If you and your guy are done having kids, the vasectomy is the least invasive, most effective form of permanent birth control. Intrepid reporter (and snip-ee) Mike Zimmerman digs up everything you both need to know about the procedure — so you can talk him into it.

Nearly every couple who's finished having children will eventually sit down to have "the talk" about permanent contraception. But the conversation will never go like this:

WOMAN: "Honey, I think you should have a vasectomy. It's simple, safe, and it'll make sex so much better for us."

MAN: "Sweetheart, you're absolutely right."

TOGETHER: "Let's make the appointment!"

Agreeing that you're done having kids is usually far easier than agreeing on who signs up for sterilization. But the choice between your tubes being tied and his getting snipped should be no biggie if you base it on statistical logic: "Vasectomy is by far the most effective form of permanent contraception," says Marc Goldstein, M.D., professor and surgeon-in-chief of male reproduction at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, who's performed more than 3,000 vasectomies himself. "It's 10 times more effective than a woman tying her tubes. Also, every year 25 to 30 women die during a tubal ligation procedure because of complications from anesthesia or injury to the blood vessels or bowel. Zero men die from vasectomy."

But for some guys (maybe one you know?), those reasons will not matter. It turns out that volunteering to be neutered is pretty high on the list of Things Ye Dare Not Do as recorded in the Secret Scrolls of Manhood. So why am I, a man, writing this story? I had a vasectomy myself (you can read all about it in a few short paragraphs), and the snip has done great things for my marriage and my sex life. Read this guide, show it to your guy, and decide for yourselves.

WHY MEN BALK AT VASECTOMIES

"I would really like my husband to get one, but after lots of discussion, he continues to say no to vasectomy," says Heather, 37. "I'm terrible at remembering to take the Pill. It would be much easier for him to snip-snip. But no matter what logical argument I make, what wins out is the stigma of someone messing with his 'junk.'"

There you have one of the main reasons many guys are hesitant: "We spend our entire lives protecting our testes," says Wayne Weissman, M.D., cofounder of the Vasectomy Center in Seattle, who has performed 7,500 vasectomies. "Women have their gonads inside their abdomens! Men walk around with their sack exposed, and it's incredibly sensitive, so they feel more protective. Then, suddenly, you're supposed to spread your legs in a doctor's office. It's not intuitive for men."