Ladies, family-planning and contraception is also your partner’s responsibility!
Welcome to 21st century India where women are being raised as independent individuals and excelling in all chosen fields of vocation. While we can say that there has been a tremendous improvement over the past few years regarding provision of equal opportunities to men and women, there is one aspect that is still not balanced between the two genders- contraception and family-planning.
You might be surprised to know that out of all couples that use contraception, a staggering 75% rely on female sterilization (Click Here),
Physical intimacy is everyone’s need, right? Then why are only women expected to pop hormonal pills and get insertions or surgical operations done? Contraception should be the responsibility of both partners. With so many contraceptive options available, it is shocking that a large percentage of people are unaware about options.
Female fertility: A play of hormones
Females undergo a lot of changes with age. Puberty, pregnancy and menopause are all characterized by hormonal changes that directly affect female fertility. Since females carry the baby in her womb, it is believed that women should also bear the burden of contraception. Wrong. There are very simple and effective means by which men can contribute to family-planning without any physical problems.
Most female contraceptives are hormones
Daily contraceptive pills, emergency contraceptive pills, patches and tube inserts are all hormones. These hormones are not without their side-effects. Some hormones increase the chances of some cancers. Other may cause weight gain, migraine or nausea. In contrast, male contraception methods like condoms and vasectomy cause no physical or hormonal problems, and don’t alter their performance in any way.
Options for Contraception
Here are some popular contraceptive options that all sexually-active persons should know about. It is important to know the details of each method, along with its advantages and disadvantages, before choosing one. Some of these options are hormonal, some mechanical and some surgical. It is important to remember that hormonal contraception is associated with maximum side-effects and most of them are long-term. Surgical methods have a short-term physical discomfort, and mechanical methods are largely free of any side-effect or discomfort.
- For females
- Oral contraceptive pills
- emergency pills
- uterine inserts and intra-uterine devices (IUD like copper-T)
- hormonal patches
- hormonal inserts
- female condoms and diaphragms
- vaginal ring
- Sterilization (permanent)
- For males
- Condoms
- Vasectomy (permanent)
Please note that all contraceptive measures do not protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and therefore you should read about them in detail before choosing.
The final verdict
Contraception it is the prerogative of the couple, and the responsibility of contraception should be entirely be by choice. However, contraception methods for males are much less cumbersome and don’t have side effects like their counterparts for females. Therefore, modern men should also take contraception as their responsibility and make the life of their partners a bit easier, don’t you think?
