Why would a couple choose vasectomy over tubal ligation?

Why would a couple choose vasectomy over tubal ligation?

Philip Werthman, FACS (Director, Center for Male Reproductive Medicine) gives expert video advice on: Can a vasectomy be reversed?; Do vasectomies sometimes fail to prevent pregnancy? and more...

The reasons to choose vasectomy over tubal ligation are numerous. Number one, a vasectomy is a safer procedure for a man to undergo than a tubal ligation is for a woman to undergo. The vas is sitting in the scrotum outside of the body. It's just sitting right under the skin. So to perform a vasectomy the doctor just needs to make a tiny little poke hole in the skin to access the vas, which can be done under local procedure. It takes roughly about 10 to 15 minutes to perform a vasectomy and the man walks out of the office, rests for a few days and then goes back to life as usual. For a woman to have a tubal ligation, it is a procedure that is done with her asleep. So she has have general anesthesia and the risks of anesthesia. One has to enter the abdomen. It's usually done through laproscope these days. So several tiny holes are cut in the abdominal wall and through belly button surgery and video camera the fallopian tubes are accessed and they are blocked. This is usually more costly than a vasectomy because it is more intense.