There usually comes a time when a couple decides they’re done having kids, and to prevent more babies, they choose a form of birth control. While society puts the onus on women to take care of this through pills, shots, implants, and other inconvenient and invasive methods, there’s a quick, one-time outpatient procedure men can choose as an alternative form of birth control: a vasectomy. Traditionally, women have had to bear responsibility for birth control, but thanks to some of our favorite celebrity dads, vasectomies are being normalized as a child-preventative option that men can embrace.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Vasectomy is a form of male birth control that cuts the supply of sperm to your semen. It’s done by cutting and sealing the tubes that carry sperm.” The medical organization asserts that the procedure “has a low risk of problems and can usually be performed in an outpatient setting under local anesthesia.”
For some celebrity dads like Dax Shepard, the choice to get a vasectomy was his and his alone. Other famous fathers like Rob Delaney chose a vasectomy out of consideration for his wife, which we absolutely love to hear. “I figured after all my wife, Leah, and her body had done for our family, the least I could do was let a doctor slice into my bag and sterilize me,” the Bombshell actor wrote in a 2020 essay for The Guardian.
Relief, sadness, indecision, and utter joy: these celebrity dads have experienced it all when it comes to contemplating a vasectomy. Scroll on to read their stories.
Alec Baldwin
During a May 2024 appearance on the Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson podcast, Alec Baldwin reflected on being a dad to eight kids and whether he would expand his family further. “I think I’m done,” the 30 Rock alum said after being asked if he would have more children.
Of himself and his wife Hilaria, Baldwin explained, “[E]very time the [youngest] baby would get to be 2 years old, we go, ‘Maybe it’s time for one more baby — just one more baby…’ So we have seven kids.” At the time of the podcast, the actor’s youngest child was 16 months old.
Matthew Koma
While Hilary Duff was pregnant with their third daughter, Matthew Koma documented their day trip to the urologist’s office for a vasectomy. Taking his Instagram followers along for the ride in March 2024, Koma shared several humorous stories before, during, and after the procedure.
“It’s honestly not bad at all. Like better than going to the dentist for sure,” the musician jokingly captioned a post-op selfie. Koma also shared a shot of himsel standing in black underwear and bandages, raising a thumbs-up sign. “10/10 Would recommend,” he wrote of his experience.
Eric Decker
After Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker welcomed their fourth child in February 2024, the former NFL wide receiver shared a cheeky social media post to announce he had a vasectomy.
A month after the birth of their son Denver, Eric posted a carousel of photos on Instagram documenting the procedure and his recovery. Captioned, “I survived,” the social post included a funny photo of the retired football player relaxing with a bag of frozen peas on his… region, a glass of rum on the rocks in one hand, wearing a t-shirt that read, “Vasectomy survivor, I kid you not.”
Before conceiving the final time, the couple admitted they had scheduled several vasectomy appointments, but Eric had always canceled. The dad of four told Fox News Digital in September 2022, “I had it scheduled. Day came around. You know, it’s a lot of power being taken, in a sense, right? That’s a big choice, so I decided to skip out on it and I got one in the oven,” he joked.
Months later, Jessie told the outlet, “Now after this baby comes, I’d like to know that [an] appointment will be made.” She added, “I can’t imagine life without this baby. But, I don’t think we need to go for a fifth, so as soon as this baby is here, we should go ahead and do that.”
Kane Brown
March 2024 was a popular month for celebrity vasectomy announcements! Joining Matthew Koma and Eric Decker, Kane Brown revealed he opted to undergo a vasectomy after he and his wife unexpectedly became pregnant with their third child. During an appearance on The Bobby Bones Show, the musician said he “got neutered” before the arrival of his son.
Brown recalled his appointment, telling the radio show hosts, “They gave me gas, but I’m laying on my back and I have a nurse over me and a doctor and they’re just talking about their day. I’m not out of it at all, just sky-high. And you’re just on the table, spread eagle. It was wild,” he said with a laugh.
Brian Austin Green
On a January 2024 episode of his Oldish podcast, which he co-hosts with fiancée Sharna Burgess, Brian Austin Green revealed he had a vasectomy after their son’s arrival in June 2022. The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum was already dad to four sons before welcoming Zane with the Dancing with the Stars pro, which is why he decided to have a vasectomy eight weeks after his youngest’s birth.
“Zane was born, and I was like, ‘I think it’s time to close the shop,'” Green shared. Burgess added, “I was really, really grateful for that. It was such a big and beautiful thing he did, and it secures comfort and no stress in our sex life, not worrying about if we are or if we aren’t, which is such a gift.”
The couple revealed that they haven’t completely ruled out the possibility of having more children, but if they do decide to expand their family further, it will most likely be a planned conception through IVF.
Nick Cannon
Though Nick Cannon is now a dad of 12, he considered getting a vasectomy ahead of his eighth child’s arrival in 2022. That May, he told E! News’ Daily Pop, “I already went and got my vasectomy consultation. I ain’t looking to populate the Earth completely, but I’m definitely looking forward to taking care and loving all the children that I currently have.”
However, during an April 2023 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Cannon spoke more candidly about how overwhelming it was to constantly hear outside commentary on his situation. “It’s a scary thing,” the Drumline alum said. “I felt pressured. I felt the world was trying to make me get a vasectomy. I don’t operate well under pressure. My body, my choice.”
He asked, “You ever know what it’s like to be walking down the street and just a random stranger be like, ‘Man, you need to go get snipped?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t even know you.'”
Rob Delaney
In August 2020, Rob Delaney wrote an essay for The Guardian detailing his vasectomy experience. “I figured after all my wife, Leah, and her body had done for our family, the least I could do was let a doctor slice into my bag and sterilize me,” the Argylle actor explained.
Delaney revealed that the novocaine injections didn’t entirely numb him to the sensations of the procedure and he was unable to receive other drugs because he ate breakfast that morning — a no-no before undergoing a vasectomy. “So I just had to ride that pain wave, baby,” he wrote. “I ‘comforted’ myself with the knowledge that what I was enduring would probably feel like a pleasant respite compared with what my wife went through four (4) times to bring our chunky sons into the world.”
The Deadpool 2 actor continued, “I’m happy to report that, barring a couple of weeks of waning discomfort, there were absolutely no side effects from the surgery.” He confessed, “I am sad sometimes that I won’t get Leah pregnant again. Our youngest recently turned two and it hurts to think that we won’t make more chunky little nuggets together. We really love babies.”
Delaney added, “But Leah and I both want her to be able to work and travel more easily and have a bigger world again, after an insane six years of being pregnant and breastfeeding, and sometimes doing those things while caring for a dying child. So, on balance, we’re glad I did it.”
Mike Caussin
Before Jana Kramer divorced him in 2021, Mike Caussin underwent a vasectomy after their second child was born. The One Tree Hill alum expressed regret over her then-husband’s decision, telling Us Weekly in June 2019, “The fact that Jace started to sit up now, this is going to be the last crib in the house. He’s going to be a year in six months.” Kramer added, “To know that we won’t have a baby ever again, that saddens me. We’re still young. We could have more kids.”
Caussin chimed in, asking, “When would it end? Because you could say the same thing on the third. ‘Well, they’re already sitting up. Maybe we could have another one.'” The former NFL player continued, “I don’t want to raise kids until I’m 70. Come on, don’t you want to have fun at the end of our life, and be able to travel, and do things together? I look forward to those moments.” He told Kramer, “If we keep having kids, that ain’t happening, sweetie.”
Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard had a rather spontaneous vasectomy after he and wife Kristin Bell had a pregnancy scare in 2015, and he rehashed the story during a May 2016 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The Without a Paddle alum and Frozen star already shared two daughters when Bell fell ill and thought it was a sign of pregnancy. Shepard told Kimmel, “Last year, my wife was working in Atlanta. We were there and she all of a sudden goes, ‘Oh my gosh! I’m so stupid. I’ve been sick for 10 days and ignoring it — I’m definitely pregnant,'”
He shared how he spiraled, admitting, “I was like, ‘We’re going to turn into Jon and Kate Plus 8 or something. We already have no life! This is going to be not worth living.’ I freaked out. It was so bad.” Shepard continued, “That was Tuesday and she had to work, so for eight hours we didn’t get a pregnancy test. For eight hours I was, like, imagining my life with all these kids. That was Tuesday. I flew home Wednesday for a meeting. Thursday morning, I had a vasectomy.”
Though he admitted Bell was “not thrilled” with his quick decision, Shepard said, “But I’m a man of action, so I was in and out.”
Phil McGraw
When his wife Robin was pregnant with their first child, Phil McGraw (better known as Dr. Phil) decided to have a vasectomy — a choice he would later regret. He told Newsweek, per ABC News, in December 2011, “At that age I was a young lion, a doctor with a new practice. I wasn’t focused on family.”
Six years after undergoing the procedure, McGraw had the vasectomy reversed. Six weeks later, Robin was pregnant with their second son. “He is one of the two greatest joys in our life,” McGraw shared. “God, if I had missed that — how dumb. I just shudder at how stupid I was.” He added, “I learned you don’t make life decisions on the spur of the moment, and you don’t make them alone. I got a do-over on the biggest mistake of my life, and I am delighted that I did.”
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