The Vasectomist
Team
Directors Jonathan Stack & Saralena Weinfield
Producer Ruth Cross
Executive Producers Simon Nasht & Dick Smith
Partners
SBS, CBC, DR, VPRO
Screen Australia, Screen NSW
Format
52mins documentary
Status
Festival Premiere October 2013, Adelaide Film Festival
Broadcast internationally from October 2013
Links
Dr Doug Stein is a urologist from small town Florida on a mission to save the planet by “spreading the gospel of vasectomy”. Doug has performed more vasectomies than anyone – 30,000 – throughout the US, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
As he travels the world, Doug confronts the difficult ethical questions surrounding birth control and the reluctance of men to be involved in family planning. He comes up against conservatives and religious groups who believe family planning is akin to genocide, every bit as evil as abortion. But he also upsets liberal groups who challenge him for bringing family planning to poor countries, arguing this is a slippery slope towards imperialism and racism.
The Vasectomist is a journey through these difficult and divisive issues, crossing cultural, religious and political taboos. Through this quixotic character and his highly personal encounters with men as they exit the gene pool, the film provokes a new conversation about over-population, over-consumption and the planet’s environmental tipping point.
Doug Stein is driven, amusing and often naive about the controversy he creates. His single-minded calling is to save the world one vasectomy at a time. And nothing will stop him… While the mathematical absurdity of his vasectomy missions haunts his every procedure, the questions Doug raises about the future of humankind are critical to our collective wellbeing.