Ten-fold increase of men in their 20s seeking snip

MORE men in their 20s are seeking vasectomies than ever before, with one doctor reporting a ten-fold increase in the last five years.

Dr John McCormick of Vasectomy Ireland has said there are numerous reasons for these young men wanting the snip.

He said: ‘Over the past four to five years, in the groups that are aged 20 to 30, there’s been a tenfold increase, if you look at men with kids and without kids.

‘If you look at the group that don’t have any kids, in the 20- to 30-year age group, they’ve increased by about six-fold.’

Dr McCormick said that because these men are still quite young they ‘require careful counselling’ and are advised to consult family and friends before going through with the procedure.

‘I encourage them to talk to those closest to them. In some cases that is their parents or siblings, or their friends,’ he told Newstalk yesterday.

‘The overwhelming theme of the conversation is they’re very definite about it. They’ve thought about it for a long time, probably for several years, and kids were never for them.

‘They’re making a very important choice at a very young age, but it is their choice to make,’ he said.

While he doesn’t discuss with all his patients their reasons for having the procedure, Dr McCormick said a few men have explained to him why they were taking the step.

‘I’ve seen several men over the years with a history of mental illness that has been difficult to control.

‘One guy very articulately said to me one morning, “I can barely look after myself. How am I going to take care of any children that I might have?”

‘Then there are people whose choice is that they don’t want kids. It was never going to happen. I think I’ve only heard one person talk about the population of the planet and concern for the environment. It tends to be very much a personal choice,’ he said.

Dr McCormick said these younger men have to be treated in the same way as anyone else.

‘You’d be very blunt with the facts. Obviously, you tell them to treat it as a permanent thing. You can get vasectomies reversed but reverses don’t always work. A vasectomy reversal is a bigger procedure.

‘You can also have sperm extraction done. Even if you had a vasectomy, you can still extract sperm from the testicle and then your partner can get IVF in the future. There are those possibilities.

‘Some men would say “I would rather adopt, if we were going to have kids in the future,”’ he said.

Dr McCormick said he is most concerned about those who would freeze sperm before the procedure because they are prepared to go through with it even if they might want children in the future.

‘You’d be very blunt with the facts’