PERMANENT METHODS OF BIRTH CONTROL: VOLUNTARY STERILIZATION
Voluntary sterilization is the most popular method of birth control in America. More than 1 million women and men choose to have the procedures every year. Sterilization is surgical birth control—it is intended to be permanent, and it is not easily reversed. Vasectomy is the surgical operation for men. It blocks the vas deferens. Tubal sterilization is the surgical operation for women. It blocks the fallopian tubes. Vasectomy is less complicated and is the less expensive of the two procedures.
Usually, people choose sterilization when they have had all the children they want. Most of them are over 30 and married. Some women and men, however, choose sterilization in their earlier reproductive years because they know they never want to have children. Others choose sterilization because they have a hereditary condition that they do not want to pass on to another generation. Still others elect sterilization when the woman is chronically ill or physically disabled in a way that would make pregnancy very difficult or dangerous.
Couples are often moved to choose voluntary sterilization after they have had to deal with a pregnancy “scare” or an abortion. Because sterilization procedures are nearly 100 percent effective, couples who do choose sterilization have very little concern about the chance of unintended pregnancy for the rest of their lives. Because sterilization is intended to be permanent, it is inappropriate for young women or men who may change their minds about having children as they mature.
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