Catastrophe star Rob Delaney has revealed that he underwent a vasectomy.

The actor, 43, said it was time to shoulder some responsibility for birth control after he and his wife had had four children.

Delaney wrote in The Guardian: “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 sterilise me.

“Leah had taken birth control for decades, which is a giant pain in the ass and also decidedly sexist pharmacological slavery …

“Plus, Leah had been pregnant for almost three of the previous eight years, resulting in four beautiful boys … That’s 166 weeks spent pregnant …

“As I was pregnant for zero weeks, Leah heartily agreed that a doctor should scalpel around in my balls so that she didn’t become pregnant again – by me, anyway.”

Delaney said a male friend warned him off saying: “‘Don’t do that; what if things don’t work out with you and Leah and you meet a younger girl and she wants to have kids?'”

The US star said: “I love Leah and I hope we die within minutes of each other in 2071, but if she left me or got hit by a meteor, all other women within a few miles of me need to know that I shall not sire (stud) again.

“We can go to the movies together and even attempt coitus after I’ve grieved for a sensible period (not less than three weeks), but I know my limits, and raising one brood as well as I can is all I have in me.”