It’s important to understand what goes on in the normal male “apparatus” so that you understand how a vasectomy works and how the operation affects men and what it can’t do to you!
A man’s testicles do two main things:
they make the male hormone, testosterone which is produced continuously and distributed throughout the body from the testicles via the blood vessels, and they produce sperm which are also produced continuously (not just at the time a man ejaculates!) and, after the sperm mature, they travel from the testicle through a narrow tube (the vas deferens) to storage containers (the seminal vesicles) which are under the bladder and behind the prostate gland.
(if a man is warm and relaxed he can usually feel the vas deferens quite easily within each side of the scrotum by gently rolling the contents of the scrotum between their thumb and fingers - the vas is the firmest "tube" running up from the testicle to the groin with a texture a bit like semi-cooked spaghetti!)
The two vas deferens (one from each testicle) pass through the prostate and join the major passage for urine, the urethra. It is these two tubes, one from each testicle, which are operated upon to create a permanent blockage to prevent the passage of sperm from the testicles to the seminal vesicles (a vasectomy is an " ectomy" or a cutting of the vas deferens).
When a man ejaculates after sufficient sexual stimulation, strong spasms of the muscles surrounding the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland caused the stored sperm to be mixed with the fluid which is produced during arousal by the prostate gland (this is just under the bladder and in fact the back of the prostate bulges backwards where it can be felt just inside the back passage or rectum by a doctor) and it is then forced outwards travelling down the urethra and out of the penis.
The vasectomy operation is performed by making a blockage in the vas deferens within the scrotum (or ball bag) which prevents the passage of sperm beyond the blockage. Because the testicles do not make the fluid which is ejaculated and because the operation does nothing to interfere with the blood supply to the testicle it doesn’t alter the production of the male sex hormone, testosterone or prevent ejaculation of the fluid which is produced well “downstream of where the operation is performed and so the operation does not interfere with the desire or ability to have enjoyable sex (except possibly in the first week or so after the operation when some soreness can be expected!).
After the operation there are still countless sperm alive and wriggling in the vas beyond where the blockage is made (ie, “downstream”) and many more are stored in the seminal vesicles (sperm storage chambers under the bladder which contain the sperm as they are made 24 hours a day) beyond the operation site in the scrotum. So it is important to understand that the operation cannot make you instantly sterile. Those sperm stored within the seminal vesicles are perfectly capable of producing babies and must either be ejaculated or die of old age before you will become sterile. To prove that you are finally sterile you will have to produce a specimen of semen by masturbation and bring it along to the hospital to be examined for the presence of any sperm.
Only when the specimen is proven to be free of any living sperm can you be certain that you are sterile and that you and your partner can stop using other forms of contraception.
So basically the operation doesn’t make you sterile immediately and you will have to demostrate that your semen is free of any living sperm, Yes you do still ejaculate after a vasectomy because 95% of what one ejaculates is fluid produced in your prostate gland.BACK TO MAIN VASECTOMY DOCUMENT
