STERILIZATION



More or less irreversible technique for preventing conception

Two kinds:
  • Tubal Ligation or electrocoagulation, which seals off Fallopian tubes and prevents passage of eggs between ovaries and uterus (overall failure rate of .15 percent)
  • hysterectomy, which removes uterus

  • Severe bleeding
  • Pelvic infection
  • Ectopic pregnancy (risk as much as three times higher)
  • Subsequent hysterectomy because of severe menstrual problems
  • Death due to anesthesia, perforation of aorta, and bowel burns
  • Post-operative depression
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Risk of later desire for sterilization reversal
  • Women who have had tubal ligations report more cramping than they were accustomed to previously, and chances of pregnancy after tubal ligation are two to five percent.



  • Called vasectomy – virtually irreversible operation that removes a piece of both the left and the right vas deferens (tubes through which sperm travel from the testes to the prostate) and ties off ends
  • May not be effective for up to three months because of residual sperm cells
  • Failure rate of .15 percent; recannulation (re-establishment of vas deferens by internal healing process) occurs in 1 case per 1,000


  • Sperm production is same as before, about 50,000 spermatozoa every minute. However, sperm are not ejaculated so they enter the bloodstream where antibodies are produced to remove the sperm from the bodily system. This can lead to thyroid and joint disorders, heart and circulatory diseases, and diabetes. When the body activates defenses to ward off cells of its own making, as after a vasectomy, the body becomes “auto-immune” (allergic to itself). Several studies have found such antibodies generated in response to sperm antigens in 55 to 75 percent of patients within two years after their vasectomies.
  • Two studies in the United States have found that men with vasectomies have an 85-90 percent higher risk of being diagnosed later with prostate cancer than men who elect not to have the surgery.
  • Psychological difficulties, including anxiety and feelings of low self-worth, decreased sexual desire. A standard personality disorder test found that over 40 percent of one vasectomy study group experienced personality disturbances between their first testing and testing a year later, after the operation.
  •  Increased risk of kidney problems, including kidney stones.

The only surgery that is done deliberately to destroy the natural functioning of sound, healthy organs, sterilization-for-birth control is an extreme act of self-mutilation that often has a profound negative effect on the personal relationship between husband and wife. “Having made their love lifeless,” as one observer puts it, “sterilized couples deprive each other of the miraculous gift of combined fertility, a truly wonderful gift that would otherwise enable them to be cooperators with God in the conception of new life.” That\'s certainly one way to take the “magic” out of one\'s marriage.