2024-02-12 14:39:02
Vasectomy has turned the French contraception scene upside down. French men, who had long been reluctant to undergo vasectomies, have been adopting this definitive method of sterilization in droves. In 2022, no fewer than 30,288 operations were carried out by urological surgeons to sever the a deferential vessel ducts, which carry sperm from the testicles toward the prostate, thereby preventing them from reaching the penis. In 2010, only 1,940 French men underwent this procedure.
These figures were made public on Monday, February 12, by the Epi-Phare team, headed by Professor Mahmoud Zureik, which drew on data from the French healthcare system to study the behavior of the country’s population. The team of epidemiologists had been prompted to take stock of this practice by urologists, who had observed an increase in the demand for vasectomies, particularly among young men. The phenomenon was found to be “all the more important because, unlike women, men have very few means of contraception at their disposal,” insisted Dr Noémie Roland, who led the study. Only one other, in fact: the condom. “This can be an important tool in the sharing of the burden of contraception,” added Roland, the head of Epi-Phare’s “women’s health” program.
The scale of the findings surprised the researcher. “Such rapid changes are uncommon in epidemiology,” she insisted. In twelve years, the incidence of vasectomies among men aged 20 to 70 has risen from 9.8 per 100,000 individuals to 149.5. A rapid and constant trend. From 2010 to 2022, the number of operations rose steadily – apart from a plateau in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic led to many non-vital surgical operations being postponed.
In the global field of male sterilization, France has long been a poor performer, lagging far behind the English-speaking countries, northern European nations and South Korea. While the prevalence of vasectomy seemed to be directly correlated with gender equality indicators, France had been the exception. This was probably due to a pro-natalist policy that wasn’t compatible with a non-reversible operation, according to Roland. Even if, theoretically, the a deferential vessel can be reconstituted, a return to full reproductive function remains uncertain. As a result, no public health campaign has ever been carried out by the health authorities. Urologists themselves seemed reluctant, particularly when dealing with young men.
On the other hand, France stood out because of a high incidence of recourse to female sterilization, either by tubal ligation or contraceptive implants. Here too, the scene is changing: The number of such operations has fallen significantly, and in 2021, the trend lines crossed for the first time. In 2022, three male sterilizations were performed for every two female ones, according to the study. France has therefore joined the very small group of countries that sterilize more men than women – 10 countries in total.
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