Journalist and father-of-three Bill Linnane
Apart from a Nespresso machine.
“The decision to have a vasectomy wasn’t made lightly, but since I hit 40 next year, I felt that now is the time. My wife and I have been fortunate to have three wonderful children — with a fourth on the way — so she has done more than her fair share. She’s been through almost three years of the various delights of pregnancy and about a week of hard labour; it was time for me to step up.”
“…when it comes to reproductive protection, the responsibility is very much placed on women. Think of the plethora of contraception available for women — a vast array of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, all of which have potentially serious side effects. For men, there are two options; condoms or vasectomy. As a man of absolutes, I chose the latter.
I wanted to write about my experience for two reasons; one, it helped me overcome the fear, to see it as a research project — sort of like Woodward and Bernstein, if they had spent most of the Watergate investigation walking like John Wayne and sitting down very, very slowly.”
Yikes.
Why I decided to get a vasectomy (Bill Linnane, Irish Examiner)
really? he’s comparing himself to Woodward and Bernstein? Really?!
Is that what you took from that? Really?
There’s a vas deferens between them
ha, ha. One of BS best jokes ever! You deserve a prize!!!
bravo!
Now he can go riding all around him and not be leaving sprogs all over the place. Result!
Kudos to you sir. Kudos Indeed.
:D
Oh you, well played ! :)
Ray D’Arcy more like.
did he ever go ahead with that stunt?
This is the photo that should be under Wally in the picture dictionary.
Whipped, the fact he looks like hes going on 50 and not 40 is testament to that,
numb nuts needs to spend a week with Abby Donovan if there’s any hope for redemption.
You’re an idiot.
He looks about 35.
There are limited birth control choices for men because of the way sperm is produced and stored in the body which make it difficult to be certain that any male contraceptive pill would be effective. Whats more is that while it is straight forward enough to switch off production of sperm in the body getting it to start up again is much more difficult and it is for this reason that the male contraceptive pill has not been launched.
Can people make no personal decision these days without going public with it. What’s his point?
Some men have such big egos that they have to share personal business like this. Just like Ray D’Arcy talks about ridin his missus . yuck!
From what I know, a vasectomy is a simple procedure.
Well, it isn’t without the usual risks (you can get it done under a local or general anesthetic but I cannot imagine wanting to be awake while that went on) and there’s the usual pain and infection risk involved with any invasive surgical procedure along with a couple of days recovery afterwards. Also they don’t always take (requiring a second attempt) . Reversals aren’t always possible and even when they are it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be fully capable of reproduction afterwards.
What doesn’t come up often in discussions about this is the risk of chronic pain in the months and years after the operation. For whatever reason about 15% of men who have the operation experience troubling pain and 33% report discomfort. 2-3% experience severe pain that affects their life and in many of these cases a reversal can stop the troubling/discomfort/severe pain but not always. So there’s a risk, however small that you’ll be left in severe pain for the rest of your life.
The more realistic risks are psychological with some men (not sure what the % is) reporting that they felt like less of a man or suffered erectile issues and/or lack of sexual desire for psychological reasons afterwards. There were no physiological reasons found for this, simply that some of their confidence rested in their reproductive capability. Some men report weight gain for related reasons.
I had one done a while back because a third pregnancy could have ended in the death of my wife, the child or both and balancing that against the failure risks of the various contraceptives available (and the chance of lifelong chronic pain) it still seemed like the safest option available. It stung like hell for a few days, stubble on my junk was a strange experience I wouldn’t be eager to repeat but I didn’t suffer any of the negative consequences. However as quick and easy as the whole thing is, I would not recommend it without first giving it a huge amount of thought and discussion first.
Oh yes, for what it is worth :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-vasectomy_pain_syndrome links to more information on the topic of the possible chronic pain.
I think your over thinking this a little there Major. Obviously it will differ for each individual but I had this procedure almost 18 years ago under a local anesthetic. The procedure itself was painless and the recovery took less than 24 hours. I had no issues either sexual or psychological afterwards.
Out now, Bill’s “From absolute to abstinence, my road less travelled”
This drivel would almost make you pine for Gerry Ryan’s vasectomy story party piece. Almost.
Surgery isn’t something to be taken lightly. There was an interesting story in the Sunday Times going back a few months on the complications (sometimes painful) arising out of vasectomies, with some doctors now being reluctant to recommend them. Not to mention that they are not always successful.
I had a vascetomy, for the good of humanity, but didn’t consider it inetersting enough to start a blog about.
To summarise
made appointment with specialist GP
when to GP on agreed date
underwent 10 minute procedure
went home and rested for a day
back to work
6 months later did test to confirm no sperm
End of
For men, there are two options; condoms or vasectomy. As a man of absolutes, I chose the latter.
He didn’t do his research very well then, there are no absolutes, even with a vasectomy….
absolutely, abstinence, anyone?
I literally don’t care what you do with your mickey Bill or what obstacles it faces. Must be disappointing when the column has more inches than the subject matter.
Man gets vasectomy as he and his wife have decided that its the most straight forward, but comprehensive way to not have more kids. He writes about it to demystify the experience, and he’s doing the research anyway. I found it interesting.
You have access to the internet, there are a gazillion articles on this.
Srsly? it’s a piece which may or may not help some men who are considering the procedure which is more than a little daunting. Nobody has to read it, it’s not on the fupping syllabus of life. Why a simple column on a medical procedure should evoke such outrage and occasional hatred from Broadsheet readers is beyond me. Many (not all) of the commentators on here come across as the angriest, most depressed and ill informed people in Ireland. ‘KILL THAT PUPPY’, ‘HOW DARE THAT WOMAN SPELL HER NAME WITH AN L’, ‘LOUD NOISES!!’ Broadsheet is not a bad site but the comments, when I occasionally read them, make my eyes bleed. Why are people so hateful?
The best contraceptive for men, with 100% success rate is homosexuality.
Problem solved.
For men, there are two options; condoms or vasectomy.
Hilarious, men don’t get pregnant.
Increased risk of primary progressive aphasia and prostate cancer are already attributed to vasectomies.
Stick a gynefix in her and man up, men with vasectomies will always be perceived as weak.
Turns out these things could be bad for you. Personally I’m joining the campaign for real jizz!
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/11/vasectomy-prostate-cancer-study