She was a young woman who came to use for a sterilization operation. She had two babies and did not want any more. She was a housewife. Her husband had a clerical job in an office. I counseled her about the risk of failure, and also about the methods of performance of the operation, its complications, and the pros and cons of the operation as compared to the male sterilization operation.
“I would be best if your husband underwent a vasectomy rather than you undergoing a sterilization operation” I said.
“No, not my husband” she said.
“Why? Is there any problem?” I asked.
“He is the only breadwinner in our family” she said. “Suppose he cannot lift heavy weights after the operation?”
“But he has a clerical job, which does not involve lifting heavy weights” I said. “Anyway vasectomy does not impair the ability to lift any weights.”
She kept quiet. I had heard that excuse from many women in the past. They probably talked to one another and had concluded that it was a standard and foolproof excuse.
“It does not lead to loss of libido or impotence too, if that is what you fear” I assured her.
“Yes, doctor. But suppose it happens? Then what?”
“It is your husband’s concern” I said. “If he understands there won’t be a problem and wants to undergo the operation, why should you resist?”
“Because if he gets the complication, we both will suffer” she said. That was unbeatable logic, though the presumption underlying it was totally wrong.
“OK. We will perform a sterilization operation on you, provided you accept the higher risk for yourself” I said.
Husbands of some of them fear loss of libido and resist vasectomy. Mothers in law of some of them fear the same for their sons and resist the operation. Some of the women fear loss of physical power in their husbands, others fear loss of sexual power in their spouse. Some others want the protection from a pregnancy in their own body, rather than in the spouse’s. No matter what the reason, there is widespread resistance to vasectomy, and there seems no hope that it will change.
