| Abstract: | 4 surveys were conducted in the United Kingdom in an attempt to determine the personal and social factors influencing the decision to have a vasectomy. The surveys differed from other vasectomy studies in that they represented couples requesting a vasectomy and not only those who obtained a vasectomy. They include, therefore, individuals who were refused and those who changed their minds, as well as those individuals on whom the operation was performed. The surveys showed that by 1978 the majority of requests came from couples who had 2 children or less (70%), who came from social class 3 (64%), and where the wife was under age 35. There was a relative absence of high-parity couples, of the least skilled, and of those of African or Asian origin. The husbands viewed vasectomy as a final act of male contraceptive responsibility. The reasons for choosing vasectomy were to prevent further pregnancies and to protect the wife from the health risks of the oral contraceptive or the IUD and from the dangers of childbearing or the fear of pregnancy. The findings of the first 3 surveys were similar. All surveys suggested that men of low parity preferred vasectomy and that men of high parity and those of African or Asian origin were often reluctant to undergo a vasectomy. All the marriages described as successful remained so after vasectomy. Minor degrees of impotence, frigidity or lack of libido appeared to improve. 11% of the couples withdrew from the operation following the counseling session. The 476 couples requesting vasectomy in the first 3 surveys produced a wide range of anxieties over health, life problems, sexual enjoyment, contraception, children, marriage, and the change of life. There appeared to be marked differences between couples who undergo vasectomy and those choosing tubal ligation. |
