Sterilization 08

Céline, Esther; Dara, Margot

What is sterilization?

Sterilization is a surgical technique in order to induce infertility to an organism. It can be a method to control the birth, and it is permanent. It is a good operation for people that are sure they never want children or do not want more children, and do not want to have the risk of being or having a partner pregnant.

What is fertility?

Fertility is the capacity to reproduce and thus to generate offspring. A man is fertile from puberty until the end of his life. A woman is fertile from puberty even she already has her ovaries from birth. However she is fertile until menopause process.

Can sterilization be used for women and men?

Yes, there exist sterilization for both women(tubal ligation) and men(vasectomy):

Tubal ligation

Tubal ligation is a surgical sterilization technique for women which is quite simple to make. This surgical operation closes the fallopian tubes (=oviducts), and stops the egg from traveling from the ovary to the uterus. It also prevents sperm cells from reaching the egg to fertilize the egg. In a tubal ligation, both fallopian tubes are cut, burned, or blocked with rings, bands or clips.
There exist other types of sterilization processes, and each process depends on the woman to who the surgery occurs.

Vasectomy

Vasectomy is the men's sterilization. During this surgery the vas deferens from each testicle is either squeezed, cut or sealed. This technique of sterilization prevents sperm cells from mixing with the semen (a white or grey liquid) that is ejaculated from the penis. When there are no sperm cells in the semen an egg cannot be fertilized. This technique blocks the sperm cells in the testis and those are naturally reabsorbed by the body. The fact that the sperm cells are blocked does not mean that the man does not ejaculate fluid.

• See annex 2

How effective is sterilization ?

For both, sterilization is nearly 100 percent effective, but for vasectomy it takes almost three month to be effective. During this laps of time,you may have recourse to other birth control. Do not forget that tubal ligation and vasectomy offers no protection against sexually transmitted infection, because in the vasectomy case whether or not it contains sperm cells, sexually transmitted infections can be carried in ejaculation.

Is sterilization irreversible ?

it would be wrong to say that fertillization of both sex are irreversible, but the operation that exist to reverse sterilization is really complicated, expensive and may not work (in a lot of cases). Many health insurances do not pay for this operation.

What are the advantages?

For women

There are different advantages of having a tubal ligation : First, the fact that it is immediately effective and does not affect sexual pleasure. Secondly, that it does not require a daily attention. Then, it is a cost-effective over the time, but again, tubal ligation does not protect against STD.

For men

The advantages of vasectomy are simple. First, men won't have to worry about your partner becoming pregnant anymore because the semen does not contains sperm anymore, but do not forget that vasectomy, as tubal ligation does not protect against STD. Secondly, vasectomy is a safe and cheap procedure compare to the cost of other methods known as pills or condom over the time.

What are the disadvantages?

For women

As we know sterilization is normaly irreversible first of all, the women can regret this choice if one day she wants to be pregenant. The surgical procedure can be a discomfort for the woman and it also doesn't prevent from diseaases such as STI's and HIV. In addition, if the operation fails, which is very rare, there is a chance that if a woman becomes pregnant, she has an ectopic pregnancy.

References

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control/sterilization-women-4248.htm

http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/vasectomy-14387

http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/976106/1068066.html?1225961573

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/male-reproductive-system = male

http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/FAQs/female_steril_faq.htm

http://www.fpv.org.au/pdfs/SterilisationFeb07.pdf

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