After sterilisation has worked you don t have to do anything about contraception ever again. Male sterilisation is a simple operation and takes about 10-15 minutes. It is more effective than female sterilisation. After a vasectomy it usually takes a few months for all the sperm to disappear from your semen. You need to use another method of contraception until you have had two semen tests which show that you have no sperm.
Female sterilisation involves a small operation and usually a general anaesthetic.
This is not common. Sterilisation cannot be easily reversed. Sterilisation does not protect you against sexually transmitted infections. Sterilisation is for people who do not want more children or who are sure that they do not want any children. Research shows that more women and men regret sterilisation if they were sterilised when they were under 25, had no children or were not in a relationship.