We’ve often complained about the sad state of affairs of male birth control: inasmuch as, well, there’s very little male birth control out there. Why should preventing pregnancy be solely the responsibility of the ladies? Why can’t men take more responsibility?
Well, some men are, it seems: according to the Details blog, more and more young men are getting vasectomies. Which, quite frankly, we support. If men don’t want children, and they know they don’t want children, taking the steps to prevent it is the responsible thing to do.
But it seems that not everyone agrees: over at Jezebel, there seems to be the opinion that these men are, well, jerks (to put it mildly). Now, granted, some of the reasoning put forth by these men isn’t exactly female-friendly (some are worried about lying women who will trick them into being fathers, for instance), that doesn’t change the fact that making the choice to prevent unwanted pregnancy is a responsible move — no matter what gender you are.
[Photo by arriabelli]
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I agree. Men not wanting to deal with the responsibility of getting a girl pregnant, and taking measures to ensure this doesn’t happen, is a good thing.
And, yeah, having sex with random people without a condom is not too bright, but at least they’re not passing those dim-witted genes on to any offspring.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:43 amAnd, yeah, having sex with random people without a condom is not too bright, but at least they’re not passing those dim-witted genes on to any offspring.
It’s like the reverse of “Idiocracy”!
July 10th, 2008 at 8:47 amGood for those guys. I also support men who take the responsibility into their own hands. I’ve often thought about dropping this hint to my boy, but not sure how’d he react to it.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:12 amRemember, girls can do it, too: it’s just more expensive and more hassle. I’ve watched a boyfriend get a vasectomy (he was 21), and I had a tubal ligation myself at 22.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:31 pmhm. i wonder if my new insurance would cover tubal ligation. i really hated the one surgery i had though (i had a hernia). it’s kind of rough going.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:24 pmI got a vasectomy at 21 because I didn’t want to get anyone pregnant. And because the only alternative was condoms which, at the time, was considered better than nothing… but only barely.
Unlike every other form except tubal ligation, though, they’re permanent and that’s pretty unreasonable. When I got mine I did so with the intention that if a partner and I wanted children at a later date we’d try for a reversal or, if that didn’t work, we’d adopt. Or at least *I’d* adopt if *I* wanted children.
It turns out that in strictly mechanical vasectomies are a little more reversible than the numbers indicate: most men get theirs in their 50s, often with partners in their 40s, and so even when the procedure works sometimes it’s just too late anyway. Because I was younger than typical (late 30s) and my partner even younger (early-30s) things went, well, swimmingly. But I gotta say that I already had an appointment lined up for a second vasectomy when our second, planned child was born.
Leave it to Details Magazine to populate their article with the moral equivalent of trolls. Any time I read that magazine I think of the Seinfield character George telling the fiancee he didn’t want to marry that he wanted her to sign a prenuptial agreement. She smirked in his face and said “You don’t have any money. I make more money than you do. Ha ha. Yeah, gimme the papers I’ll sign ‘em.”
So, like, yeah, in exactly who’s dreams would a woman want to “trick” the average Details reading career Kinko’s desk clerk into parenthood? (Sheesh. Did you see their article on anal sex a year or so ago? Same kind of lame.)
Anyway, the good news is “stupid” is never the same thing as “wrong” when it comes to personal reasons for using birth control. And the more demand, from any quarter, for more male contraceptive options beyond latex and scalpels the better the odds industry will finally start to deliver.
figleaf
figleaf
July 11th, 2008 at 9:56 amFigleaf: you’re right abut failure rates- the younger you are, the more your body is itchingly fertile and eager to repair itself (and has more time to do so). I think I’ll get mine checked every 5-10 years, and I’d suggest that it’s a good thing to do for anyone who’s been fixed. For men, getting a sperm count is easy, an for women, there’s the more complicated/uncomfortable hysterosalpingogram. The doctor who did my tubal (Yoon ring method represent!) has been doing them for 30 years and said that to the best of his knowledge, not a single one of those women ever got pregnant.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI have been looking into this because my gal is BRAC1 positive, a real risk for breast cancer if taking extra hormones.
What really stands out is gossypol, a compound in cottonseed that is proccessed out at the factory to keep it out of cottonseed oil.
No side effects, 95% reversible, takes only a minor dose every 1-3 months, and doesn’t appear to have any other downsides.
And now with organic cotton out there,there is plenty of clean product to work with.
Why can’t I get this, and make my gals life less at risk ?
July 12th, 2008 at 3:00 pmI highly recommend reading Nelly Oudshoorn’s book, The Male Pill, about the social history of developing a male oral contraceptive (and some of the reasons that even though China and India had developed a version, its “side effects” were considered too detrimental).
Carl Djerassi, one of the major scientists involved in developing the female oral contraceptive, had an article in Salon in the early 2000s about vasectomy as a compelling option for younger men — especially because they’re reversible (usually). http://archive.salon.com/sex/feature/2001/11/14/djerassi/index.html I remember raising it with my friends, a couple, and the man actually being quite upset about the prospect of his fertility being interrupted.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:54 pmThe gossypol angle was discovered in china, they were cooking with it (cottonseed oil), and entire villages were not conceiving. As i recall, over 85% of the men regained fertility, though some took more than 3 years.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:00 pmstill, not bad.
And now it can be organic and standardized.
Think it should be offered for free, as you can’t use it for animal feed either.
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