March Madness is Prime Time for Vasectomies

If doctor’s orders require you to sit on the couch for a few days, you might as well do it when you can watch the country’s top college basketball teams take the court to battle for the NCAA title.

That’s the mindset of hundreds of men who opt to get vasectomies each March, just as March Madness is kicking off. Recovery for the procedure can take up to a week, offering the perfect opportunity to kick back for some college hoops.

Jeff Morrison, MD, assistant professor of urology in the University of Colorado Department of Surgery, performs vasectomies year-round in the urology clinics at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital. He is a men’s health specialist and fellowship-trained in male fertility. We talked with him about the vasectomy procedure, its treatment, and how easy it is to reverse it.

What exactly is a vasectomy?

A vasectomy is the most effective and the only long-term option for male contraception. It's a procedure done in the clinic, and it takes about 15–20 minutes. We use local anesthesia to numb the scrotum so we can divide the vas deferens, which are the sperm ducts. That leads to permanent sterilization. I use a minimally invasive, no-scalpel approach with a special tool that's used to gently spread the tissue, as opposed to cutting.

Do the patients have to do a follow-up visit, or are they totally done after that first week?

There are millions of sperm going through the sperm ducts. And when I divide the vas deferens, there are still millions of sperm downstream. So the sterilization aspect doesn't work right away. The patient needs to “clear the pipes,” so to speak. We ask them to come back in two or three months, and we do an analysis of the ejaculate to make sure there are no remaining sperm.

So they need to continue to use contraception for those two or three months?

Exactly.

Are there any risks to getting a vasectomy?

It's a low-risk procedure, but it's not a zero-risk procedure. There's a very small risk of bleeding, infection, and chronic pain or discomfort that could follow the procedure. However, the vast majority of men recover very well without any issues.

What are some of the misconceptions about vasectomies that are important to address?

I think a big one is that guys worry, “Is my manhood going to change?” And the answer is no, there are no changes to sexual function or testosterone levels after vasectomy. Guys also worry that their ejaculation is going to change. The truth is that the majority of a man’s ejaculate comes from the prostate and seminal vesicles, which are located downstream from the site of the vasectomy. In fact, the actual sperm cells, which are stopped after a vasectomy, make up only 2% to 3% of the ejaculate fluid, so guys really don’t notice a change in ejaculation after vasectomy.

Is there a typical age range for men who get vasectomies?

It's all over the board. It's any man who is interested in permanent sterilization. The majority are men in their 30s or 40s and already have had kids. However, with the recent 2022 Dobbs Supreme Court decision, we saw an uptick in younger men without kids coming in for vasectomy. The legal implications of their partners’ reproductive rights may have pushed more men to take birth control into their own hands by getting vasectomies.

What about vasectomy reversals? How easy are those to do?

As a fellowship-trained microsurgeon and male reproductive specialist, another part of my practice is performing vasectomy reversals. These are more specialized procedures that take a few hours in the operating room under general anesthesia and require a high-power microscope to reconstruct the vas deferens, essentially sewing it back together. Success rates are high, especially if performed within 10 years of the vasectomy. However, due to the delicate and complex nature it is important to go to urologist with fellowship training and microsurgery expertise to get the best outcomes.

→ Vasectomy Reversals: What You Need to Know

To schedule a consultation with Dr. Morrison for a vasectomy, call 303-265-3940 or click here.