11% of couples have vasectomy in the Netherlands

“She doesn’t want to take the pill because of the hormones, said of his wife this Dutch father of a little girl to the magazine ‘We Europeans’ (replay). We do everything together and contraception is the same thing. Both are responsible. It’s true that when you start to think that they’re going to cut into the testicles, down there…”

It is doctor Esther Remijn who will operate on this vasectomy candidate. This urologist has performed this male sterilization technique nearly 3,000 times during her career: “I look for the vas deferens which goes to the urethra, place it between my two fingers and bring it to the surface of the skin, she explains. I then inject a dose of anesthesia, make an incision and cut.”

A success rate of 99%

It’s a completely accepted procedure in the Netherlands where 11% of couples choose to have vasectomy, which is the highest rate in the European Union. The criteria are strict: patients must be over 30 and no longer want children. This operation lasts between five and ten minutes, is performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia and costs 400 euros non-reimbursed.

“Ah, I feel the vas deferens… I cut and ligate. That’s the procedure”, comments the practitioner to the patient who carefully follows the rapid steps of his operation. The chances of success of this act, which can be reversed under certain conditions, reach 99%. “I think the most painful thing is the injection for anesthesia. I’m relieved that it’s over,” says Eric, who will have to provide a semen sample in three months to check whether or not there are any sperm left.

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