This Doctor Vasectomized Himself!
“One small snip for man, one giant leap for human kindness.”
That’s what the motto on the side of Dr. Esgar Guarín’s mobile vasectomy clinic proclaims, and it’s a good statement of the core of his philosophy.
Guarín left behind his full-time medical practice in his Des Moines, Iowa, office to proclaim his message on the road: Vasectomies are good for human well-being and the planet. That’s right: Vasectomies are now his sole business model.
And get this: This dude even vasectomized himself.
We talk all about it in an episode of the Business for Good Podcast that’s truly a must-listen.
Learning to improve the world
Guarín got his initial training at the Universidad de Santander in Colombia. His early experience included extensive work in maternal and child health, and he spent a year doing medicine in a poor, rural part of Colombia — a requirement the country makes of all new physicians.
After his certification as a foreign physician in the United States, he followed up by completing his medical education at the Franklin Square Hospital Medical Center in Baltimore. His career-long focus on reproductive health has centered on minimally invasive procedures. Based on his training in no-needle, no-scalpel vasectomy techniques, he developed his own SimpleVas vasectomy procedure.
In 2017, the American Academy of Family Physicians in Iowa presented Guarín with its Family Physician of the Year Award.
In June 2022, Guarín talked with me on my podcast about his work to improve the world through persuading men to do their part to prevent unwanted pregnancies. In the United States, he charges a fee that allows him to earn a living and build a business, while keeping the procedure affordable. The pro bono part of his mission extends to performing vasectomies free of charge in underserved and rural areas across Central and South America.
Guarín is a strong supporter of World Vasectomy Day (WVD). From a once-a-year event with programs addressed to healthcare providers every November, WVD has turned into a worldwide movement for presenting positive masculine role models and inspiring more men to take the initiative in matters of family planning. Guarín learned about state-of-the-art vasectomy techniques from Dr. Douglas Stein, a WVD founder.
Educating the public
Guarín wants to reassure men still deciding whether the snip is for them. There are plenty of myths out there about such a straightforward procedure, and Guarín has the facts to debunk them.
So let’s cut to the chase: You keep your balls. They keep producing testosterone the same way they always did, and you’ll keep ejaculating the same amount of semen you always have. Having a vasectomy also won’t make you any more likely to need Viagra than you otherwise would, since it has zero effect on blood flow.
What a vasectomy will do is give you and your partner the knowledge that you’ve taken control of your responsibility to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
According to Guarín, there are plenty of reasons men might want to consider a vasectomy: If they’re already dads, they’re sure they and their partner have already completed their family. If they’re not, they’ve decided they’d rather adopt than bring another new human being into our overcrowded world. Or they simply know they don’t ever want the responsibility of parenting a child.
Taking the contraception burden off of women
Traditionally, in societies throughout the world, the job of preventing pregnancy has overwhelmingly fallen to women. Even today, the ratio of tubal ligations to vasectomies is exceedingly high, about 10:1. One recent change, in the U.S. at least, is that the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade is causing increasing numbers of men to consider vasectomy.
So what drove Guarín to make vasectomies his life’s work? His concentration on maternal health saw him working both with women who wanted IUDs and other forms of contraception and those going through pregnancy and childbirth. He understood and empathized with how challenging, and often how painful, all these experiences are for women. His deep interest in anthropology and human psychology also drove him to ask questions about why society places greater demands on women than on men in terms of birth control. Why couldn’t men be more proactive?
The modern vasectomy — safe, effective, responsible
Unlike previous generations of vasectomy procedures, modern techniques dramatically lower the risk of hematoma — an abnormal pooling of blood — from about 3 percent to about 1 percent. The incision measures only about 10 millimeters, and there aren’t even any stitches.
The total time it takes to perform Guarín’s vasectomy technique is about 10 minutes, although he typically spends half an hour with each patient, talking him through the procedure and answering questions. While no contraceptive method is 100 percent effective, the long-term effectiveness rate for vasectomies is impressive at more than 99 percent.
Guarín is all about removing barriers to healthcare. That’s why he talks to his patients, to remove barriers to information, to be sure each patient is aware of all that’s involved in the procedure, and to destigmatize the sensitive issue of male responsibility for contraception. That’s also why he runs his free mobile clinic, to remove barriers to access.
This is exactly the kind of outside-the-box thinking that can grow a new business while changing our world for the better.
Hope you enjoy the podcast episode!
