UK: Why are so many wives telling their husbands to have the snip?

Women generally become infertile during their 30's or 40's.

This is just another misandric ploy to dehumanize the serf that is legally bound to her and her whims.

‘Having to take the Pill is a burden,’ says Gina.

To me, it's hilarious that her name is "Gina." What's her husband's name? "Dick"?

It's amazing how the pressure is on men these days to once again give up their rights, their privileges, and their abilities, in order for their women to feel more comfortable. We're not talking about something that's medically necessary -- it's just a convenience. Women could continue to take the pill, or men could continue to use condoms, or whatever technology you want to us.

What this article is really about is an attempt by women to lock their husbands into marriages that the men may soon flee. As marriage become increasingly distasteful to men, thanks to anti-male laws and stereotypes, in addition to anti-male propaganda in movies, newspapers, and books... soon we will see chains, locks, and whips openly used to keep men in marriages. The nature of this arrangement called marriage is becoming starkly clear: it's virtually all for the women, and very little for the men. These demanding women, women asking their men to get the snip, they are just making that fundamental unfairness still more obvious.

My Take on the article...

Implying that women are some how pressuring men to get vasectomies is as silly as saying men are pressuring women to be on the pill or get tubal ligation.

Permanent contraceptive is a sensitive subject no matter what gender you are. Like all procedures that involve your health and sensitive areas of your body - everyone should consider all options and risks and be responsible for their own decisions to have it done or not.

You can bash men or women from any angle in regards to this subject. If your goal is to bash - this subject will give you endless opportunity.

This article mentions an insecure wife that thinks her husband changed his mind about a vasectomy because he may want to dump her and start a family with someone else. But you could just as easily find a man that is eager to get a vasectomy and his insecure wife may think it is because he wants to fool around on the side or maybe he is not committed to her enough to have more children. An insecure husband could be just as suspicious of a wife that opts for tubal ligation. He may think she wants to have affairs without any risk, or that she might be making all the fertility decisions without him.

I also think this article shines men in a negative light. it implies that men make no decisions for themselves and just do whatever women tell them in regards to their own personal fertility. The article brings up a man who says his wife talked him into a vasectomy which gave him carte blank to have affairs while they were married. He blames his wife and the vasectomy for his behavior. Then he turns around and says his new spouse pressured him to get the vasectomy reversed even though he was satisfied with the teenage children he already had. This guy is just insecure and has "buyers remorse". Something tells me he will regret having children with his new wife.

Wives probably do bring up the subject of permanent contraceptive more often then husbands because pregnancy and contraception it is not an issue men have to deal with too much. They have no way of knowing about concerns unless their wives or partners tell them Men have no idea about the dangers or side effects of birth control pills, depo shots and pregnancy until their partner says hey I don't want to take the risk anymore I think we should look into permanent contraceptives. (Risks increase if you are over 30 and/or smoke).

Out of the two methods of permanent sterilization, vasectomy is the easiest, least dangerous, most reliable and gives the best chance of reversal. I would think some men would be pleased to know they no longer have to worry about pregnancy. (But still fears and apprehension are justified.)

The article is about married couples. In the end, they have to agree or deal with the consequences, and I believe most couples do.

PS- I'm not saying it is an easy subject, my husband and I cannot even come to an agreement - but we either will agree on a method or we will keep having children...eventually one of us will have to give.

Works for me.

If men genuinely want a vasectomy, I've no problem with that and I'm sure a lot of men who have one feel relieved that the possibility of an unintended pregnancy is remote. However, it's a poor plan which cannot respond to future changes and only 50% of vasectomy reversals lead to pregnancy within 2 years (some of this 50% failure rate is clearly unconnected with the reversal), therefore men may later regret having one. If a man has a vasectomy of his own free will and later regrets it, that's his problem. However, in many cases I imagine the man hears a small voice inside him say, "what would happen if....", and the problem is that this envisages a scenario where the marriage has broken up and he has re-married and you can't really say to your wife, if the marriage appears strong and healthy, "no, I'm not going to have a vasectomy, just in case we break up in the future". Also men are probably far more likely to go on to have a second family, because it will probably be his hypothetical future wife who is clamouring from a baby, not him, and he agrees to it to keep her happy.

Because of custody bias, it is most likely the husband who is going to lose his family in the event of a divorce. He will remain forever childless. Gender prejudice ensures that a woman who ties her tubes at least keeps the children they have managed to produce.

I am sure that anyone, regardless of gender, who is contemplating permanent sterilization, has that notion in the back of their head that says they must consider any future scenarios with another partner. In some cases it may be because they may want another child in some cases it may be that they absolutely don't.

Either way, a person is responsible for any decisions they make. If a man chooses not to have a vasectomy to leave the door open for a second family, he also has the risk of getting his current wife pregnant and saddled with responsibility to that child. If that happens it will be a result of his own decisions to not have a vasectomy.

Or what if a husband wants a vasectomy, but the wife talks him out of it by saying they should leave options open for a child in the future, but the marriage breaks up and during his first post-marriage fling a girl gets pregnant with a child he does not want. Is that also the ex-wife's fault for talking him out of a vasectomy?

I am saying that if you want to blame others for your fertility decisions, there is plenty of blame to go around no matter what gender you are and no matter what you decide in regards to permanent contraception.

Yes, it is difficult for a man (or woman) to say to his or her current wife (or husband) that things are going great, but just in case they fall apart, I want to leave my options open to have a second family. I doubt anyone would come out and say such a thing. But it is the same for both genders and ultimately they have to take responsibility for any decisions they make wether it results in no more children or even unwanted children.

To say a former spouse pressured you into a decision one way or another is a cop-out.

OK, so neither men nor women should allow themselves to be pressured into having a sterilisation. But neither should either men or women try to pressure their partner into having one. If a man tried to pressure his wife, that would be seen as unacceptable and possibly abusive; when a women tries to pressure her husband it's seen simply as her urging her husband to be responsible.

A while back the Guardian did an article about a man having a vasectomy. The title of the article? "Time for Daddy to Take One for the Team". The jocular title just about says it all.