Sterilization (medicine)
Sterilization (also spelled sterilisation) is any of a number of medical methods of permanent birth control that intentionally leaves a person unable to reproduce. Sterilization methods include both surgical and non-surgical options for both males and females. Sterilization procedures are intended to be permanent; reversal is generally difficult.
This article is about sterilization of humans. For other forms of sterilization, see Sterilization (disambiguation).Sterilization
Sterilization
Ancient
under 1%
under 1%
Permanent
Difficult and expensive, vasectomy reversal & tubal reversal may be possible
3 negative semen samples required following vasectomy
None
None
Permanent methods that require no further user actions
Operative and postoperative complications
There are multiple ways of having sterilization done, but the two that are used most frequently are tubal ligation for women and vasectomy for men. There are many different ways tubal sterilization can be accomplished. It is extremely effective and in the United States surgical complications are low. With that being said, tubal sterilization is still a method that involves surgery, so there is still a danger. Women that chose a tubal sterilization may have a higher risk of serious side effects, more than a man has with a vasectomy. Pregnancies after a tubal sterilization can still occur, even many years after the procedure. It is not very likely, but if it does happen there is a high risk of ectopic gestation. Statistics confirm that a handful of tubal sterilization surgeries are performed shortly after a vaginal delivery mostly by minilaparotomy.[1]
In some cases, sterilization can be reversed but not all. It can vary by the type of sterilization performed.[1]
Promoted sterilization[edit]
Compulsory[edit]
Compulsory sterilization refers to governmental policies put in place as part of human population planning or as a form of eugenics (changing hereditary qualities of a race or breed by controlling mating) to prevent certain groups of people from reproducing. An example of forced sterilization that was ended within the last two decades is Japan's Race Eugenic Protection Law, which required citizens with mental disorders to be sterilized. This policy was active from 1940 until 1996, when it and all other eugenic policies in Japan were abolished.[22] In many cases, sterilization policies were not explicitly compulsory in that they required consent. However, this meant that men and women were often coerced into agreeing to the procedure without being of a right state of mind or receiving all of the necessary information. Under the Japanese leprosy policies, citizens with leprosy were not forced into being sterilized; however, they had been placed involuntarily into segregated and quarantined communities.[22] In America, some women were sterilized without their consent, later resulting in lawsuits against the doctors who performed those surgeries. There are also many examples of women being asked for their consent to the procedure during times of high stress and physical pain. Some examples include women who have just given birth and are still being affected by the drugs, women in the middle of labor, or people who do not understand English.[23] Many of the women affected by this were poor, minority women.[24]
In May 2014, the World Health Organization, OHCHR, UN Women, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF issued a joint statement on Eliminating forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization, An interagency statement. The report references the involuntary sterilization of a number of specific population groups. They include: