About Sterilization

Of late, we have witnessed an explosion in the number of requests for sterilization, both male and female in both developed and developing nations.

At first, it had seemed at best a somewhat unpleasant surgical procedure and at worst a direct intrusion on personal life. But suddenly, it came to be viewed, by millions of couples all over the world, as a safe and effective solution to their personal problem of preventing the birth of unwanted children. Today, the number of 'acceptors' for sterilization still continues to increase.

What are the advantages of sterilization over the use, say, of a pill or condom? More to the point, is the operation dangerous? How much do you know about its after effects? If a couple wants to be sterilized, is it better for the husband or wife to have it done?

Attitudes to sterilization even today vary among different professionals and social groups and among the members of different religions. In the past the variation in attitudes was even more widespread. Sterilization both of men and women appears to have reached epidemic proportions. The true extent of sterilization over the last decade and particularly the last five years is simply not known with any accuracy. The situation, it seems, changes from month to month.

Today, the pace may be slackening slightly, at least in the U.S. But any potential candidate for a sterilization operation can hardly doubt that he or she is in good company. There are a dozen questions that are usually asked and many more 'stray' queries that bother some people's minds and on which they seek reassurances before they commit themselves to being sterilized.

So far sterilization is a 'safe' operation. Basically the question is whether the cutting of a man's vas deferens or his wife's fallopian tubes will have any adverse effect on their subsequent physical health. Controversy on this subject has been widespread for years. At one extreme are the small minority who believe that sterilization is the root of a vast number of illnesses.

At the other end of the scale, an equally small group has thought that male sterilization in particular was the very key to health. As usual, the truth lies in between. After examining what has been published on the subject, there seems no firm reason to believe, at the moment at least, that sterilization can be physically harmful. A certain element of risk is attached to any surgical operation. In addition, many operations have some after effects.

But when sterilizations are competently performed, surgical risks are small and after-effects are few. But beware that not every couple is suited to sterilization, just as not every woman is suited to the contraceptive pill.

There is a general belief that sterilization is a permanent operation. Once performed, fertility is lost and is unlikely to be retrieved. However this is not wholly true. The operations are sometimes reversed and fertility is sometimes restored.