I had a vasectomy in my 20s after the trauma of my sons' births

Alex West was near harrowed by the hard labour his woman endured for their archetypal child. When it came to their second, helium hoped for a overmuch smoother arrival.

The commencement did spell amended for his woman - but not for him.

"I had a panic onslaught and broke down. I hadn't been capable to - I didn't person the quality to - process that," Alex says.

Unresolved trauma from his wife's archetypal labour and his consequent postnatal depression meant Alex didn't privation to proceed with the couple's program to person 4 children.

He remembers the months aft the births of his 2 sons arsenic "grey" - beingness was devoid of colour and filled with radical telling him that being a begetter indispensable beryllium a fantastic experience.

"I didn't consciousness this emotion and transportation that everybody says I should have," Alex says.

Not wanting to repetition the experience, helium and his woman agreed to halt astatine 2 kids. Given helium was the driving unit down the decision, helium felt it was "wrong to enactment the onus connected my wife" to instrumentality a contraceptive.

So similar thousands much men successful England person done successful caller years, Alex chose to person a vasectomy.

The process involves the cutting and past clamping oregon sealing of the vas deferens, a conduit connected each testicle that carries sperm to the urethra. It's colloquially known arsenic the snip.

Some 26,385 vasectomies were performed astatine hospitals and clinics during 2024-25, according to information compiled by NHS England. This was 16% much than successful 2023-24.

Men aged 35-39 had much procedures than immoderate different property group, astir 8,400 successful 2024-25.

There had besides been a flimsy emergence connected the erstwhile twelvemonth successful younger men choosing to person the snip - astir 950 vasectomies were performed connected men aged nether 30 successful England during 2024-25.

Alex, a owe broker, decided successful his precocious 20s to person the process but his NHS doc urged him to hold until helium turned 30 successful lawsuit helium changed his mind.

When the assignment came successful May 2024, helium and his woman took the bid from their Kent location to the London clinic.

The process was speedy and painless says Alex, present 33. "I enactment my headphones connected and I listened to astir 3 songs earlier they said it was each done.

"Ridiculous - brainsick quick."

Sam Knight, who's from the US, says helium knew helium didn't privation to person children.

"I was putting myself successful situations wherever kids could beryllium a imaginable enactment and that truly started to, benignant of, freak maine out," Sam says.

When his then-partner became pregnant, she chose to person an termination and Sam, aged 22 astatine the time, felt a alteration was needed.

"[I had] a realisation of this happening that I've enactment idiosyncratic done and I conscionable didn't privation that to ever hap again."

He contacted a urology session successful New York and, similar Alex, had to explicate to clinicians wherefore helium wanted a vasectomy. Sam was advised the process should beryllium treated arsenic permanent, arsenic it tin lone beryllium reversed successful immoderate circumstances.

Because helium was asking for a vasectomy astatine specified a young age, Sam had prepared for the questions his doc was going to inquire him: Don't you deliberation you're excessively young to cognize you don't privation kids? Could you alteration your caput successful future? You bash cognize reversals are costly and aren't ever successful?

"[The doctor] really said helium had precise precocious changed his view," says Sam. "And that, if I had travel successful fractional a twelvemonth earlier, helium would person turned maine distant instantly."

His vasectomy took spot a mates of months aft helium archetypal contacted the clinic.

The questions from Sam's doc were designed to guarantee helium was making a determination helium could unrecorded with; men nether 30 are much apt to regret a vasectomy, according to guidance from NHS Scotland, external.

Dr Sarah Salkeld, a erstwhile GP who is present a aesculapian manager for MSI Reproductive Choices, a radical of clinics offering assorted contraceptives to NHS and backstage patients, says a vasectomy is "very harmless and effective".

But she cautions it is important for men to "really deliberation about" whether a vasectomy is close for them.

"We connection everyone counselling to speech astir it if they privation to, conscionable to… marque definite they've got each the accusation they request to marque that decision."

She says reversals are not routinely disposable connected the NHS arsenic determination are strict criteria for having one.

The NHS website points retired that different forms of contraception, external are disposable to men, including condoms and the fertility consciousness method - avoiding enactment oregon utilizing condoms connected the days erstwhile their pistillate spouse is astir fertile.

Sam told his doc that, portion helium loved kids and had a blessed puerility himself, helium wanted to enactment focused connected his occupation arsenic a dependable decorator for video games.

"I've devoted my beingness to this and, to me, parenting is thing you besides give your beingness to," Sam says. "I conscionable don't person the intelligence abstraction oregon the clip to bash that, oregon adjacent the tendency to."

Sam, present 25, says helium envies those who bash privation to go parents due to the fact that the acquisition "clearly has" quality and emotion successful it. But adds, "I find that successful euphony and creation and these things that I do."

The process successful 2024 and the aftercare outgo Sam, who was inactive connected his family's wellness security policy, astir $1,200 (£849) successful total.

He's among less than 1% of men successful the US aged 18-29 who person ever had a vasectomy, according to the National Survey of Family Growth, which analysed the responses of astir 4,000 men successful 2022-23.

Men successful their mid to precocious 40s were astir apt to person had 1 -15% said they had.

Sam experienced 1 bout of excruciating symptom a week aft the procedure, a known but uncommon broadside effect of vasectomies according to Dr Salkeld, but that subsided aft a fewer hours.

He doesn't deliberation this should enactment different men disconnected having a vasectomy. "Overall, it is worthy the wealth and it is worthy the pain," helium says.

Another antheral told america the sacrifices and uncertainties of being a genitor - peculiarly however his children mightiness crook retired - drove him to person a vasectomy aged 27.

Back successful Kent, the determination to get the snip felt similar the fairest and astir effectual signifier of contraception disposable to Alex and his wife.

It was thing they considered cautiously implicit respective months, knowing they nary longer wanted much children.

"I perfectly adore my children," Alex says, peculiarly present they are aged capable to play shot with.

"If I had added much to the team, it wouldn't person been the close happening for me."