Couple Establish Fund to Offer Vasectomies

When Paul Scott and his fiancee decided to get married earlier this year, they realized they had everything they needed. So, in lieu of gifts, they asked family and friends for something they thought other people needed--vasectomies.

Saying that many of the world’s problems stem from overpopulation, the couple used $2,800 of their own money to establish a vasectomy fund at Planned Parenthood. The organization provides the procedures gratis to low-income earners at its Van Nuys and Pomona clinics.

“We plan to match that amount every year,” says the 48-year-old Santa Monica resident. “This seemed like the best way to concentrate my efforts” to fight overpopulation.

“This also enables a man to contribute his part,” Scott adds, “instead of the onus always being on a woman to deal with birth control issues.”

A vasectomy normally costs $200 to $500, compared with $1,500 to $2,000 for the much more common tubal ligation, the female sterilization procedure. What’s more, it’s a minor surgical procedure that takes about 10 minutes and can be done under a local anesthetic in a doctor’s office. Tubal ligations are more invasive, have higher complication rates and often require an overnight stay in the hospital.