It's
important to understand your choices before deciding on permanent
birth control.
When
it comes to permanent birth control such as sterilization, both men
and women should know and compare the differences, benefits and risks
of vasectomy vs. tubal ligation. For most couples, vasectomy is often
the safer and most simple of the two procedures. There is ample medical
and personal reason why a couple might prefer vasectomy to the female
equivalent: tubal ligation.
Cost,
Safety and Risks
For women,
tubal ligation involves conventional hospitalization, general anesthesia
and lengthier, more complicated surgery than a vasectomy. In comparison,
no-scalpel vasectomy may be completed in minutes, barely scoring the
skin of the scrotum.
A majority
of tubal ligations are laparoscopic (intra-abdominal) procedures that
require several hours of hospital recovery time and days of recuperation.
The potential serious risks with this type of surgery include perforation
of the intestine, infection, complications from anesthesia and even
pulmonary embolism. Less serious but more frequent are the long-term
side effects of tubal ligation. These include painful menstrual cycles,
pelvic pain and a controversial complication that is still under study,
called "post tubal ligation syndrome."
Vasectomies
are usually outpatient procedures performed in the doctors' office
and usually take less than a half-hour to complete. There are almost
no risk of serious complications and no proven long-term complications
to vasectomy. Quick recovery usually allows patients to have the procedure
on Friday and to return to work on Monday.
When
it comes to cost, a simple vasectomy is more than four times less
expensive than a routine tubal ligation: Compare $2,000+ costs in
a tubal ligation to approximately $500 for a vasectomy. Still, most
couples may opt for tubal ligation because some couples still perceive
birth control as solely a woman's responsibility.
Making
the Loving Choice
You and
your spouse can discuss these issues with your physician, however,
when it comes to cost, risks and benefits, vasectomy is more often
the best option-and a loving choice for husbands who would spare their
wives' the greater burdens and risks of tubal ligation.
