Vasectomy

[Russethouse]

Call me old fashioned, but aren't questions of fertility and contraception best left to the couple involved? Is it wrong to assume that if the Op is old enough to ask about a vasectomy he is old enough to have thought about it himself and only wants advice about how/where to get it done, not opinions.

It's rhetorical Wooly B, no opinion required - thank you.

[woolybananasbrother]

Well RH, we had a bit of a row yesterday about the area. Another poster implied that the doctors in France were a bit behind the times because they do not encourage vasectomy, and it got me thinking as to the rights and wrongs, if one can call it that, from their point of view. As well as my own a bit. Regardless of my opinion, I am not sure it is right to say doctors' are necessarily behind the times, they may have a different view from the Anglosaxon one, which is coincident with mine.

Just as circumcision comes in and out of fashion and there are strong arguements about it.

I am not sure that the OP was deeply offended by the points I made either, was he?

But I am fascinated by the two thumb technique.

To deal with your question, no, society and the mores of the day largely dictate attitudes to contraception and fertility within a couple I suspect. Expatriation brings about a clash of cultures and this is one.

 

[Clair]

My comments about "attitudes not changing" (page 1 of this thread) referred to Frenchmen's dread of anything else than flesh (preferably female) approaching their family jewels and their fear of being less "effective" (for lack of a better word) in bed after a vasectomy.

It was not a comment on French doctors being behind the times.

[woolybananasbrother]

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="Christine Animal"]

There was already a thread with the same title a while back

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/693543/ShowPost.aspx

[/quote]
Sadly, as far as attitudes go, things don't appear to have moved on much... [:(]
[/quote]

This refers to doctors as much as patients, surely?

[Clair]

As per my previous post, my comment referred to the attitude of Frenchmen, as described in the link dated Nov 2005

[quote]

French men will visibly crindge when it is mentioned and seem, well

our friends seem to think that it is some sort of equivilant to being

fully castrated and nothing will work again, so they don't get it done.

True it seems so much more acceptable for women to have far more intrusive surgery than a 'snip'.[/quote]

[woolybananasbrother]

We are not going to get anywhere here my darlings and my donkey wants to keep his other hind leg.

Suffice it to say we differ sharply.

I suggest the OP gets it done in Blighty where they have different attitudes to these things.

[Gemini_man]

I know that attitudes in France towards vasectomy are rather different to in England but for what it's worth I had it done in the UK 17 years ago, shortly before moving to France and soon after the birth of my second child, nothing to it really, twenty minutes in the doctors clinic, a couple of local injections, the smell of burning flesh (the worst part to be sure) a sweet for being brave and off home with instructions to take it easy for a few days.

No it hasn't affected performance - I'm no better or worse now than before!! The most memorable part was my wife and daughter laughing at my "black banana" a few days later when I was in the shower [:$]

Certainly ask your doctor in France about the procedure here but you might get a less than enthusiastic reaction in which case it may be worth considering arranging to have it done in the UK.

[newbiee]

quote user="woolybanana'sbrother"

I am not sure that the OP was deeply offended by the points I made either, was he?

 

 

Firstly, I'm a she, not a he. 

No, I was not deeply offended by the points you made as I rather ignored them.  

I asked for information on obtaining a vasectomy in France, I didn't ask for opinions on the rights, wrongs or wherefores of it.  One can't stop people from siezing opportunities to voice their opinions (even when they were not asked for) ... so one learns to skip right over them.

I barely noticed them, so certainly wasn't offended - I was too busy laughing at the funny folks' comments [:D]

[AnOther]

[quote user="newbiee"]Firstly, I'm a she, not a he.[/quote]You'll forgive us for surmising otherwise I'm sure and I sincerely trust your OH is privvy to this thread and your plans for him [Www]

 

[newbiee]

 It's a surprise birthday pressie .. I haven't told him about it yet.

Do you think I should?  [:P]

 

Only kidding ... I've told him there's five crisp Euro in it for him if he has one.... who cold turn that down?? [Www]

[Russethouse]

At least you would be able to visit the Queen at Balmoral without the embarrassment of having someone unpack your contraceptive equipment - Cherie Blair was apparently so worried about this they ended up having another baby!

[sueyh]

Gynocologist (lady) here was well impressed when I told her my OH had had a vasectomy and said how good the British men were to have the op as the French men were very naughty and refused to do so (in general - perhaps not all).

Suey

[Frenchie]

I am a French woman and you are right, it is really not popular in France, people find it weird, even women.

There are other options than the pill ot vasectomy, isn't it ?? ( a coil, an implant..)

I am Ok with being in control of contraception, because it is very easy.

What I don't like is that vasectomy is irreversible.

What if a couple divorces and the man gets involved with a woman who wants children ?

But as the OP said, each individual is entitled to his/her own opinion. 

[AnOther]

Actually Frenchie, theoretically at least, it is reversible, but the success rate is far from 100% which is why it's best to be absolutely sure before having it done and regard it as a one way street [;-)] 

[Frenchie]

I know a British couple who can't have a baby because he had a vasectomy .. A few years after, he divorced, met her, and they can't have the baby they wanted together..

Sad..

ErnieY , thanks for the post, I didn't know it was theoretically  reversible. 

[Tancrède]

[quote user="Frenchie"]

What if a couple divorces and the man gets involved with a woman who wants children ?

[/quote]

We will then have one less situation to be subsidized by the punitive taxation of single people.

[AnOther]

There can of course be many unforseen circumstances in which one may come to regret a vasectomy. One way to insure against this would be to 'bank' some sperm prior to a vasectomy.

Do they have sperm banks and IV clinics in France I wonder?

 

[Frenchie]

Of course we have them, Ernie.

 

[5-element]

[quote user="Frenchie"]

I know a British couple who can't have a baby because he had a vasectomy .. A few years after, he divorced, met her, and they can't have the baby they wanted together..

[/quote]

This is one of the hypothetical issues that has to be explored in pre-vasectomy counselling. Another possibility to contemplate is "what if" your existing children died? There are other really difficult situations too, and it is crucial that anyone contemplating a vasectomy will have given much thought to all those possibilities. For these reasons, it used to be much easier for a man to get a vasectomy if he was in a stable, solid and long-term relationship. Usually, his partner would be involved in the decision-making process, and would come for counselling too.

This being said, the vasectomy reversal success rate is much higher now than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

I had not realised that vasectomy was still so taboo in France. As I was working in that area  for many years in England, I had assumed that it was quite normal to consider a vasectomy (or female sterilisation),  when other contraceptive methods were unsuccessful or dangerous for the woman. 

 

[newbiee]

It's interesting that such a big deal can be made about a vasectomy and those same people will think little or nothing of the health implications of a women spending years and years taking the pill, or hormonal implants, both of which can have a serious implication on her health.

The world is greatly overpopulated and we're spending resources like there's no tomorrow - a bit more restraint on the ole breeding front can do nothing but good!  (there's a programme on UK tv shortly about people with 11 children and more!  How irresponsible is that?  Presuming they are earning enough to pay for their offsprings' upkeep, how can they possibly afford the time to spend neuturing them?  I'll watch the programme, maybe I'll be enlightened).

I'm not sure what I think about the French practice of a man being forced to take his wife to give the OK to the procedure (if that still happens)  ... what happened to patient confidentiality.  I would be FURIOUS if my partner had snuck off and done it rather than it being a joint decision  .. .but I wouldn't want to take away his RIGHT to do it.

[Frenchie]

I wouldn't say it is a taboo in France, just that it is considered a bit weird.

Just as female sterilisation would be .

As two posters wrote in this thread, it has to do with cultural differences.

When the pill is a pb , women usually have an implant or a coil.

 

[Iceni]

[quote user="newbiee"]

Presuming they are earning enough to pay for their offsprings' upkeep, how can they possibly afford the time to spend neuturing them?  I'll watch the programme, maybe I'll be enlightened).

[/quote]

Not sure that it's just the kids that need neutering but lest the offspring carry on in the same way as the parents perhaps it's a good idea anyway.

John

[Russethouse]

how can they possibly afford the time to spend neuturing them

[:D][:D][:D]

Could you possibly mean nurturing them ?

[:D][:D]

[woolybananasbrother]

So, there is quite a degree of discomfort over the issue of female and male mutilation for contraceptive purposes. Which is reflected in the relatively complex rules surroundiing its availability. I did wonder. The resistance in France may be more than old fashioned prejudice then, rather an instinct that something ain't right.

Some of the alternatives being offered elsewhere such as abortion on demand up to 24 weeks seem to be equally unacceptable, witness the tortured debate currently under way.

Didn't Rajiv Ghandi family offer a transistor radio to men who came forward for male sterilisation? And he was assassinated.

There do seem to be many many other methods around which do not involve mutilation, though being too embarrassed to pack the necessary because the servants might see is probably the worst excuse I have ever heard for getting a bun in the oven.

Why then was I shot down for expressing reservations?

[Belle]

I have been reading all the threads from you WBB, RE; vasectomy, and have noticed that you use the word 'mutilation' quite alot, is this a favourite word of yours, or have you no idea what actually happens when a vasectomy is carried out, I think you are getting mixed up with castration, my O/h had his vasectomy carried out 39 years ago, if we hadn't decided on this together, and he had decided to go off on his own to get it sorted, then I would never have know, to put it bluntly, everything looked the same, felt the same, and deffinately performed the same, and to this day 39 years later, still does, hubby says going to the dentist is far worse, plus you can't talk after and you dribble, not so with a vassey, maybe dribble should have been excluded, but hopefully you get my drift.