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השתלטותינו על העולם. ארוך ובאנגלית, אבל מאמר. מוזמנות Is it hip to snip? Most men who have vasectomies are middle-aged, married, with children. But some are young men who have simply decided they don't want children -- ever. Is society ready for them? - - - - - - - - - - - - By Dana Hudepohl Feb. 7, 2005 | Justin Moran, 29, an intensive care unit ward clerk in Spokane, Wash., and his fiancée, Michelle Barros, 35, aren't getting married until Labor Day weekend, but they've already checked one thing off of their premarital to-do list: Last May, Moran got a vasectomy. "We both don't want kids, and I got tired of sweating bullets until Aunt Flo came for her monthly visit," he says. "I used to worry so much about accidents that sometimes we would just not have sex." Moran first considered getting the procedure, which permanently blocks the tube carrying sperm from the testicles to the penis to prevent pregnancy, when he was 23 and in the Navy. "But none of the doctors would consider it," he says. "They said I was too young and that I would change my mind." He didn't. So when things got serious between him and Barros early last year, he decided to take action. They both hated condoms, and Barros had sworn off birth control pills after she experienced bad side effects. "We're in it for the long haul so it made sense to snip-snippy," he says. Barros said she was thrilled. "We both wanted peace of mind as soon as possible," she says. Moran isn't typical of the roughly 600,000 men who get vasectomies each year. According to several urologists who spoke with Salon, the usual candidate is married, in his late 30s or early 40s and has two or more children. In fact, a Western Washington University study found that the likelihood of sterilization rises with age, duration of marriage and number of children. While Moran's choice might be unusual, it's not unheard of. Although no doctors or data could confirm a growing trend, many of the individuals Salon spoke to who have decided nto to have children said the surgery is gaining popularity among their circle of friends. "I know probably a dozen [men without children who've had vasectomies]," says Laura Keuling, 27, a paralegal from Queens, N.Y., whose fiancé got one four years ago. Browse through Internet message boards for the "child free" (the term preferred by many people who choose not to have children) and you'll find postings by men in their 20s and 30s like Moran who've already gotten vasectomies or who hope to one day. "As scary as getting a vasectomy was for me, it was far scarier sweating every time I had sex and waiting for good news or bad news," writes "Zaphod," on NoKiddingBoard.com. "I am not a big fan of Russian roulette. It is the only way for you to have control over your own destiny. Condoms are not foolproof. Sterilization is as close as you are going to get." While there are no statistics about this subset of men just yet, there soon will be. For the first time ever, the government's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has asked men -- nearly 5,000 of them -- about their family planning and reproductive choices. Among the data expected to be released on Father's Day: how many men plan on remaining childless for good -- and how many of those men have gotten vasectomies to set that decision in stone. Most likely, the numbers will be far from staggering. What is startling, though, is that this is the first time that the numbers will even exist. Until now, discussions about contraceptive use and desire for children have largely revolved around women. The NCHS has been collecting data on women's reproductive choices in the National Survey of Family Growth since the 1970s. It's taken 30 years for them to ask men the same questions. "This is very unique," says Gladys Martinez, associate director for science at NCHS. "It's the first time you get the man represented by himself." This newfound interest in men's reproductive choices by the government is only one indication that Americans are no longer ignoring the fact that men want to play an active role when it comes to deciding whether or not to have children. For decades, guys who wanted to take the reins and handle the responsibility of birth control had only two options: condoms and vasectomies. Today, a handful of drug companies are closer than ever to developing hormone-based male contraceptives. "There is a major interest in finding a male contraceptive," says Henry Gabelnick, director of CONRAD, an organization that is teaming up with the World Health Organization to study injectables for men combined with testosterone. "My guess is it's going to be four or five years before there is enough data to have a product on the market, if not later. But, ultimately, [the market] will change." Other forms of male contraceptives that work by interfering with the development of sperm or their functioning will likely take longer to develop. In November, a study in the journal Science made big headlines when it found that male monkeys injected with a protein had an immune reaction (developing high antibody levels and preventing the sperm from fertilizing the egg) and could not impregnate females. "The fact that men have reproductive opinions is now being acknowledged to a greater extent," says Patricia Lunneborg, retired professor of psychology at the University of Washington and author of "The Chosen Lives of Childfree Men." And it's about time, say some men. "The man's opinion should carry as much weight as the woman's," says Jerry Steinberg, "founding non-father" of No Kidding! an international 10,000-member organization for people without children. "It takes two to make a baby, and it should take two to make the decision."
השתלטותינו על העולם. ארוך ובאנגלית, אבל מאמר. מוזמנות Is it hip to snip? Most men who have vasectomies are middle-aged, married, with children. But some are young men who have simply decided they don't want children -- ever. Is society ready for them? - - - - - - - - - - - - By Dana Hudepohl Feb. 7, 2005 | Justin Moran, 29, an intensive care unit ward clerk in Spokane, Wash., and his fiancée, Michelle Barros, 35, aren't getting married until Labor Day weekend, but they've already checked one thing off of their premarital to-do list: Last May, Moran got a vasectomy. "We both don't want kids, and I got tired of sweating bullets until Aunt Flo came for her monthly visit," he says. "I used to worry so much about accidents that sometimes we would just not have sex." Moran first considered getting the procedure, which permanently blocks the tube carrying sperm from the testicles to the penis to prevent pregnancy, when he was 23 and in the Navy. "But none of the doctors would consider it," he says. "They said I was too young and that I would change my mind." He didn't. So when things got serious between him and Barros early last year, he decided to take action. They both hated condoms, and Barros had sworn off birth control pills after she experienced bad side effects. "We're in it for the long haul so it made sense to snip-snippy," he says. Barros said she was thrilled. "We both wanted peace of mind as soon as possible," she says. Moran isn't typical of the roughly 600,000 men who get vasectomies each year. According to several urologists who spoke with Salon, the usual candidate is married, in his late 30s or early 40s and has two or more children. In fact, a Western Washington University study found that the likelihood of sterilization rises with age, duration of marriage and number of children. While Moran's choice might be unusual, it's not unheard of. Although no doctors or data could confirm a growing trend, many of the individuals Salon spoke to who have decided nto to have children said the surgery is gaining popularity among their circle of friends. "I know probably a dozen [men without children who've had vasectomies]," says Laura Keuling, 27, a paralegal from Queens, N.Y., whose fiancé got one four years ago. Browse through Internet message boards for the "child free" (the term preferred by many people who choose not to have children) and you'll find postings by men in their 20s and 30s like Moran who've already gotten vasectomies or who hope to one day. "As scary as getting a vasectomy was for me, it was far scarier sweating every time I had sex and waiting for good news or bad news," writes "Zaphod," on NoKiddingBoard.com. "I am not a big fan of Russian roulette. It is the only way for you to have control over your own destiny. Condoms are not foolproof. Sterilization is as close as you are going to get." While there are no statistics about this subset of men just yet, there soon will be. For the first time ever, the government's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has asked men -- nearly 5,000 of them -- about their family planning and reproductive choices. Among the data expected to be released on Father's Day: how many men plan on remaining childless for good -- and how many of those men have gotten vasectomies to set that decision in stone. Most likely, the numbers will be far from staggering. What is startling, though, is that this is the first time that the numbers will even exist. Until now, discussions about contraceptive use and desire for children have largely revolved around women. The NCHS has been collecting data on women's reproductive choices in the National Survey of Family Growth since the 1970s. It's taken 30 years for them to ask men the same questions. "This is very unique," says Gladys Martinez, associate director for science at NCHS. "It's the first time you get the man represented by himself." This newfound interest in men's reproductive choices by the government is only one indication that Americans are no longer ignoring the fact that men want to play an active role when it comes to deciding whether or not to have children. For decades, guys who wanted to take the reins and handle the responsibility of birth control had only two options: condoms and vasectomies. Today, a handful of drug companies are closer than ever to developing hormone-based male contraceptives. "There is a major interest in finding a male contraceptive," says Henry Gabelnick, director of CONRAD, an organization that is teaming up with the World Health Organization to study injectables for men combined with testosterone. "My guess is it's going to be four or five years before there is enough data to have a product on the market, if not later. But, ultimately, [the market] will change." Other forms of male contraceptives that work by interfering with the development of sperm or their functioning will likely take longer to develop. In November, a study in the journal Science made big headlines when it found that male monkeys injected with a protein had an immune reaction (developing high antibody levels and preventing the sperm from fertilizing the egg) and could not impregnate females. "The fact that men have reproductive opinions is now being acknowledged to a greater extent," says Patricia Lunneborg, retired professor of psychology at the University of Washington and author of "The Chosen Lives of Childfree Men." And it's about time, say some men. "The man's opinion should carry as much weight as the woman's," says Jerry Steinberg, "founding non-father" of No Kidding! an international 10,000-member organization for people without children. "It takes two to make a baby, and it should take two to make the decision."