NO GOING BACK
Sterilisation is final. It’s seems a bit of a medieval, all or nothing, solution but as we said, there’s a contraception method for everyone. It is a permanent method of contraception, suitable for people who are sure they never want children or do not want any more children. Sterilisation is available for both women and men and there are a few different types of procedure, they do all have the same ending though, no babies and no going back. Before you decide on sterilisation, you should contact an independent counselor or talk to your gynecologist. There are other forms of long-acting contraception which are as efficient, but reversible.
Only sometimes it is possible to reverse the operation, but there are no guarantees. Reversal involves complicated surgery that might not work.
THE DETAILS
In Females
Sterilisation is performed surgically in a hospital mainly with general anesthesia. Sterilisation completely stop the chance of a sperm meeting an egg in the womb, but the way they do it are slightly different. One way is by tying and cutting the tubes and this is called tubal ligation. The fallopian tubes can also be sealed using an instrument with an electrical current or closed with clips, clamps, or rings so that the sperm cannot meet the egg. Sometimes, even a small piece of the tube is removed.
Surgical sterilisation needs a considerably longer recovery time because of the invasive way the procedure is carried out. The operation only affects a woman’s fertility potential and has no effect on her libido or the ability to have sexual intercourse. It is important you talk first with your healthcare provider to receive counseling on the benefits and risks. It is also important that you know about the alternative long acting reversible methods of contraception such as the IUS, IUD, or implant which all have similar low failure rates.
In Males
Male sterilisation is often referred to as a vasectomy, and is a surgical procedure in which the sperm-carrying ducts are cut and the operation can be carried out under local anesthetic. After the procedure, a man can still ejaculate, but there is no sperm present. It affects a man’s fertility potential but has no effect on his libido or the ability to have sexual intercourse. It is important you talk first with your healthcare provider to receive counseling on the benefits and risks.
Sometimes it is possible to reverse the operation, but there are no guarantees. Reversal involves complicated surgery that might not work.
HOW TO
This is probably the most important “How To” of them all and the reason lies in the word sterilisation. To make sterile, to remove the chance of getting pregnant for good, forever, for eternity, never ever again, ever. After medical consultation a surgery blocks a man’s vas deferens, the tubes that carry sperm from the testes to other glands, so the semen, the fluid that comes out of a man’s penis, never has any sperm in it. It takes about 3 months to clear sperm out of a man’s system. You need to use another form of birth control until a test shows there are no longer any sperm in the seminal fluid.
To do a vasectomy is quite a decision, consult your healthcare provider to make sure you won’t regret making this decision because once you’ve made it, that’s it, there’s no babies and no going back.
PROS / CONS
- It lasts forever
- Highly effective
- It doesn’t interrupt sex
- It isn’t affected by other medications
- Suitable for everyone who never wants to have a child (or does not want any more children) and wants a permanent contraceptive option
- Hormone free
- It lasts forever
- It may cause pain, bleeding, infection or other complications after surgery
- It may cause tubal pregnancy
- You may need general anesthesia
- Rarely, there can be a failure in which the Fallopian tubes reopen, or closure is incomplete
- Sterilisation is sometimes reversible, although the procedure is complicated and rarely successful
- It requires a healthcare provider to do it
- Does not protect against HIV infection (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
GIRLS TALK
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
No. Most research finds no major changes in bleeding patterns after female sterilisation. If a woman was using a hormonal method or IUD before sterilisation, her bleeding pattern will return to the way it was before she used these methods. For example, women switching from combined oral contraceptives to female sterilisation may notice heavier bleeding as their monthly bleeding returns to usual patterns. Note, however, that a woman's monthly bleeding usually becomes less regular as she approaches menopause.
No. After sterilisation a woman will look and feel the same as before. She can have sex the same as before. She may find that she enjoys sex more because she does not have to worry about getting pregnant.
There is no justification for denying sterilisation to a woman just because of her age, the number of her living children, or her marital status. Each woman must be allowed to decide for herself whether or not she will want more children and whether or not to have sterilisation.
Female sterilisation is very effective at preventing pregnancy and is intended to be permanent. It is not 100% effective, however. Women who have been sterilized have a slight risk of becoming pregnant: About 5 of every 1,000 women become pregnant within a year after the procedure. The small risk of pregnancy remains beyond the first year and until the woman reaches menopause.
Sterilisation is intended to be permanent. People who may want more children should choose a different contraceptive method. Surgery to reverse sterilisation is possible for only some women—those who have enough fallopian tube left. Even among these women, reversal often does not lead to pregnancy. The procedure is difficult and expensive, and healthcare providers who are able to perform such surgery are hard to find. When pregnancy does occur after reversal, the risk that the pregnancy will be ectopic is greater than usual. Thus, sterilisation should be considered irreversible.
No. After vasectomy, a man will look and feel the same as before. He can have sex the same as before. His erections will be as hard and last as long as before, and ejaculations of semen will be the same.
