What Is Sterilization?

Sterilization
Name
Institution
Sterilization
Sterilization is a procedure that permanently prevents reproduction. In women, it is referred to as tubal occlusion and in men, it is known as vasectomy. People not wishing to have children may opt for sterilization surgery. Although both procedures are reversible, they are considered lasting forms of birth control (Bartz and Greenberg, 2008). The aim of this paper is to analyze and discuss various concepts of sterilization.
Sterilization works by preventing the sperm and the egg from meeting. Female sterilization is done through cutting, blocking or sealing the fallopian tubes. On the other hand, male sterilization entails cutting and tying or sealing the tube carrying sperms from a person’s testicles to his penis (Kabir et al., 2012). Sterilization is beneficial because the sterilized individual does not have to use contraception if sterilization works. However, sterilization has several disadvantages and one of them is that the tubes might rejoin and reestablish fertility. This scenario, however, is not common. Moreover, sterilization is not easily reversed and does not protect someone from sexually transmitted infections. Finally, sterilization takes between four weeks and three months to be effective.
Sterilization in men is more effective than in women since approximately one in two thousand male sterilizations fail (Willacy, 2015). On the other hand, the overall failure rate in women is around one in two hundred. Research suggests that when sterilization is done using the filshie clip, the rate of failure in ten years after operation becomes lower than 1 in 333-500 sterilizations. There is also risk of sterilization failure since tubes that carry sperms and eggs in men and women respectively could rejoin after sterilization (Verkuyl, 2014).
There are different types of sterilization procedure. One procedure, which is known as hysteroscopic sterilization does not require any incision. All the other sterilization methods require incisions and they include laparotomy, mini-laparotomy, and laparoscopy (Lentz, 2012). In sterilizations mini-laparotomy and laparoscopy, the doctor usually makes a small cut near the navel, locates the fallopian tubes, and then seals them. These two procedures take less time to perform and the patient recovers faster than one who has undergone a laparotomy. In laparotomy, the cut is usually bigger ...