Australian men are sterilising themselves with vasectomies in record numbers amid declining birth rates, new research from Adelaide University shows.
The landmark study found a sustained national increase, with the number of vasectomies performed on men aged 18-44 each year rising by more than 60% from 18,544 procedures in 2016 to 29,848 in 2024.
There was also a rise in men aged between 18 and 24 deciding to permanently take themselves out of the gene pool, the researchers found, and warned the trend would result in “a more rapidly ageing population, a smaller future workforce and growing demand for health and aged care services”.
Australia’s fertility rate hit a record low of 1.48 births per woman in 2024, and lead researcher Dr Jack Janetzki said “significant changes in social norms” and cost-of-living pressures appeared to be behind the rise in young men choosing to become infertile.
“Decisions about limiting fertility are increasingly being made earlier in adulthood,” Dr Janetzki said.
“For younger adults especially, housing affordability, job insecurity and the cost of raising children all shape those decisions.
“When buying a home feels out of reach, childcare is expensive and financial uncertainty persists, some couples choose to have smaller families or not have children at all.
“Birth rates underpin population growth, the age structure of our population and long-term economic sustainability, so sustained declines have consequences that extend well beyond individual families.”
The researchers said “normalisation” and greater awareness of vasectomy procedures, “growing expectations of shared contraceptive responsibility”, and “relatively low invasiveness compared with female sterilisation” were also likely to be contributing factors.
Dr Janetzki said the fact that vasectomies were practically irreversible meant Australians needed to be provided with clear information about the procedure and alternatives.
“Vasectomy is intended to be a permanent form of contraception and reversals are neither simple nor 100% successful,” he said.
The study was based on a comparison of Medicare claims for vasectomies with Australian Bureau of Statistics data on birth rates across Australia by state, territory and age group between July 2015 and December 2024.
Header image credit: Pexels.
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