Vasectomies for all

[LadySparrow]

Sorry if this isn’t the right chat, I’m in the Bluestocking and various others if checks needed.

Just back from a night out with several pissed off women -as we should be- so possibly not at my most coherent.

A question was raised - if vasectomies are 90% reversible, why are young men not required to have vasectomies in order to have sex. As opposed to the majority view that women should be on hormonal contraceptives.

The majority of contraception “fails” seems to be from the male POV and perspective that if women are on the pill/implant/injection and it fails then they are solely liable.

In which case why are men not given a vasectomy option at a young age with the possibility of a reversal if they change their minds.

Thoughts? There were many in my group tonight, curious to see what people think.

I think perhaps you were more into making sure they had other things going for them then then not being able to stand to live somewhere smelly and dirty.

You live and learn, I suppose.

Either way, the fact that some people chose slobs to live with has no bearing on whether we should encourage all men to get vasectomies. People just need to balance their priorities in more effective ways.

I have known several men wanting vasectomies in their 20s but were refused it by medical professionals.
I have heard the same about women a similar age, too.

Speak for yourself. There are plenty of reliable and trustworthy men. What a ridiculous thing to say.

Even if they are reliable and trustworthy, birth control can fail, it isn't 100%. And it's the woman who ends up pregnant.

And surely women understand that birth control can fail on both sides and accept that's a risk every time she has sex. It's not a logical argument for men having a vasectomy. It is what it is.

If you’re a Bluestockinger, you’re on a namechange, @LadySparrow.

Bit ott equating forgetting to take bins out to being a slob...

They've stopped moving forward on the male contraceptive pill trials because the reverseable/ treatable side effects were viewed too much (even though they paled in comparison to female contraception side effects).

If that's a no go, anything more extreme is definitely off the table.

@DeeperShadeofRed Funny how they take these methods of contraception off the table for men, but yet expect women to endure a whole list of risks and side-effects with theirs isn't it?
Misogyny at its finest.
As with so many things, it's women who are going to have to make a stand here.

One thing you're overlooking is cost - who is going to pay for universal vasectomies and later reversals, possibly on multiple occasions?

You say they should have vasectomies 'in order to have sex' - how is that going to be enforceable? Is there going to be some kind of app that potential partners can check to make sure they have had one?

And then even more cost would be incurred at the point they wanted to start a family - and how would that work, would their partner have to consent to the vasectomy reversal? Do they have to get the vasectomy redone if they split up from that person?

The idea is completely unworkable.

However, any woman is fully entitled to say to her partner 'I'm not having sex with you unless you have a vasectomy' and the man is fully entitled to refuse or accept this condition.

@SeedsOfReason Absolutely. My husband had the snip after his first and last was born. Absolutely no way I was going to be on hormonal contraception for another 15 yrs plus! No snip, no sex!

Apologies for multiple comments but this post has got me thinking...and one serious consideration that I don't think has been mentioned so far is how something like this would absolutely lead to a significant increase in STDs especially in casual relationships.

Because let's be honest, the main reason men use condoms is fear of pregnancy (where STD protection is a bonus). Removing any likelihood of pregnancy would just encourage more men into pressuring young women into bareback sex.

Yes, that's a perfect example of when a vasectomy is the best contraceptive option for a couple.

You think men aren't concerned about STDs?
I dunno, when I was young and single AIDS was a thing everyone worried about, maybe things have changed.

That's not true. When the female pill came out, ethics wasnt the thing it is today. The female pill probably would get shut down in the same way for the same reasons.

An independent panel reviewed the study and stopped it because participants reported so many side effects. Neither the participants or researchers wanted that to happen. The men reporting side effects were mostly fine with continuing.

It's a good soundbyte "the men couldn't take it" but it isn't a reflection of the truth.

90% reversal?!?! Where on earth did you get that figure?
when we advise on referral for vasectomy the advice is that it needs to be considered final. Yes, private clinics may advertise that reversal is possible, but it’s extremely unlikely to be successful in many cases and moreover the success rate decreases over time since you had it done.
How on earth would you justify requiring a likely irreversible infertility-causing surgery when other very reversible methods are available as contraception? This is a very very shit idea and adjacent to forced sterilisation.

The studies that show 90% showed that 90% of men managed to produce a sample with some sperm in it after reversal. It didn't show how many men actually went onto conceive a baby after reversal. Most needed fertility assistance

Even if the 90% figure of men who had vasectomies being later able to have them reversed and become fathers was set in stone, a 10% risk is still extremely significant here.

Would you arrange a garden party if there was a 10% chance of rain? Probably. Would you use a dodgy cheapo phone charger whereby it had been shown that 'only' 10% of them caught fire and burnt the users' houses down? Probably not!

I take the bins out as a woman with an able bodied male partner. Am I not meant to?