Hawaii is third on the list of states in which men are least likely to have a vasectomy, according to a story that appeared in USA Today.

The story was based on “Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood,” a comic essay on fatherhood by journalist Michael Lewis.
Lewis describes men who’ve had vasectomies as “gelded” and “neutered” and says he emerged from his own vasectomy as “a hero to my wife” and “a traitor to my sex.”
The essay is funny. But it’s clear Lewis, like many men, was seriously uncomfortable with his vasectomy, a minor surgery with a major image problem.
Decades after vasectomy became common, it remains widely unloved, doctors say. That’s despite the fact that the quick operation, which involves snipping tiny internal tubes that transport sperm, is an almost-infallible form of birth control.
“We’ve had a long-term struggle trying to sell vasectomy,” says Charles Wilson, founder of The Vasectomy Clinic, Seattle. Still, Wilson is among doctors who have seen a boom in vasectomies recently, probably due to the recession. He says he has been performing as many as 140 a month, up from a typical 100.
But experts say vasectomy remains much less popular than sterilization surgeries for women.
In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found half of women using birth control at ages 40 to 44 had had sterilization surgery, but fewer than 20 percent of their male partners had.
“It’s on a lot of guys’ lists to do this,” but it usually ranks low, he says. “If it gets near the top, they decide it’s time to paint the house instead.”
According to the CDC, men between the ages of 18 and 59 are most likely to have a vasectomy in:
— Idaho (32 percent).
— Montana (32 percent).
— Oregon (31 percent).
They are least like to have one in:
— The District of Columbia (6 percent).
— New Jersey (9.5 percent).
— Hawaii (9.8 percent).