Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: The INFO Project

The new WHO recommendations advise that a man should wait three months after vasectomy before relying on it for contraception. During this period he should resume sexual activity in order to clear any remaining sperm from the semen, while he or his partner use additional contraceptive protection to avoid pregnancy.

Previous service delivery guidelines advised a man undergoing vasectomy that he could rely on the vasectomy either after three months or once he had had at least 20 ejaculations, whichever occurred first. Recent studies have shown, however, that the 20-ejaculation criterion is not a reliable gauge of vasectomy effectiveness (6, 54).

Substantial evidence shows that a three-month waiting period is long enough for vasectomy to become effective in most men (5, 6, 8, 9, 20, 32, 41, 54). While the most reliable way to determine whether vasectomy has become effective is through semen analysis, this procedure requires a microscope, slide, and dropper—equipment that is not readily available in many places.

Previous | Next
INFO Reports Home | Top of Page