WINGS HISTORY WITH VASECTOMIES AND 2021’S SUCCES

WINGS began providing tubal ligations and vasectomies in mid-2015 as the vision of our then-Executive Director, Rodrigo Barillas, and our newly appointed Medical Director, Dr. Michelle Dubón, came to fruition. Michelle remembers what other told her about our plan to provide vasectomies as well as tubal ligations at that time: “People told us that we were crazy and that we would probably only be able to operate on a couple men each month. People told us it was impossible to even think about taking vasectomy services to rural areas, let alone providing vasectomies to hundreds of men as we were planning.” But Rodrigo and Michelle persevered, aiming to provide more and more vasectomies each year. 

Vasectomy is the most effective contraceptive method there is, using a precise and simple procedure. It usually lasts on average half an hour and is performed under local anesthesia. The biggest myth of vasectomy is that it causes impotence which is totally false. On the contrary, there are studies that show that some men report greater sexual pleasure after having a vasectomy because of the peace of mind of not running the risk of getting their partner pregnant. At WINGS, we use the best available technology and we are aligned with what is considered internationally as the best clinical practice: scalpel-free vasectomy with cauterization of the vas deferens.

In 2020, we saw all of our ambitious clinical projections collapse in the face of the pandemic. EXCEPT for our projections for vasectomies – we performed 61% of our projected vasectomies despite restrictions that kept us from providing tubal ligations.

In 2021, we, along with the rest of the world, had hoped that pandemic restrictions would ease enough so that we could return to more ‘normal’ levels of productivity. This did not happen. As you can see from the chart, leading up to 2020, tubal ligations had become one of our most sought-after services. But due to limited access to hospitals affected by COVID cases, we could not offer the number of tubal ligation clinics originally intended. We provided 466 out of a projected 1,609 tubal ligations (29%). Fortunately, vasectomies can be safely performed in out-of-hospital clinical settings. As a result, we aimed to provide 580 and provided 945 vasectomies (163%) – more than we ever could have imagined, especially if you had asked us in 2015!

This success is not something we take lightly, but we are also realistic and do not anticipate achieving this same level of year-over-year growth into the future. In 2022, we are projecting 760 vasectomies and are well on our way to that goal.