By Scovia Mutesi
Different men are yet to understand the embrace of vasectomy as a way of birth control due to different divided views.
Vasectomy is a form of male birth control that cuts the supply of sperm to your semen.
It’s done by cutting and sealing the tubes that carry sperm.
Vasectomy has a low risk of problems and can usually be performed in an outpatient setting under local anesthesia
Emmanuel Ndayisenga is a married man in Nyanza district in Ntyazo sector.
He told this media house that on his side, he can’t embrace this birth control method.
“I can’t really accept the family planning that can prevent my fertility permanently. Maybe when they introduce a technology of contraceptive methods similar to those used on women, I can. Meanwhile, I support my wife to embrace family planning. We have to make decisions together,” he said.
He said that not producing children again is considered by men in the neighbourhood as taboo.
Jean de Dieu Munyentwari, another husband said that the uptake of vasectomy is hampered by the stereotypes in the community where the community can call such man, “a castrated man” who never impregnated again.
“If you embrace this method, it can be difficult to feel part of that community because of stereotypes and stigma,” he said.
Women whom we spoke to in the same community also said that they can’t allow their husbands to do so.
“What they say about family planning for men I think is not really Family planning. It is permanent prevention of fertility. For me as a woman, I do not perceive it well. However some accept it,” said Donatha Nyiraneza, a mother from Nyanza district.
Testimonies of men who embraced vasectomy
On the other side, there are men who have accepted vasectomy.
In May this year, some men shared their testimonies with the media.
Forty-one-year-old Alexis Kamanzi’s initial plan was to have two children, but after two girls, his desire for a son kept pushing him and before he knew it, he had fathered two more.
It is then that he and his wife decided that he should have a vasectomy.
“We were done with having children and I didn’t want to see my wife go through the pain that comes with the side effects of family planning again. In 2018, I decided to have a vasectomy,” he said.
Although Kamanzi was confident about his decision, he was reluctant to share the news of his procedure with family and friends because he feared the possibility of being stigmatised.
“Most people in our society don’t understand how as a man, I can be involved in family planning and of course I feared speculation about my sex life. I didn’t want people, especially men in our community to think less of me,” he said.
And so, he and his wife kept the procedure a secret.
Challenges
For example In 2011, the ministry of health had announced that 700,000 Rwandan men would be expected to, voluntarily, enrol for vasectomy in the next three years.
However misinformation has been slowing down uptake of vasectomy services.
Health experts say the low uptake of vasectomies can partly be blamed on lack of enough sensitisation programs targeting women.
They say it has been observed that most of them tend to discourage their spouses from getting the procedure.
Most women especially in rural areas believe the myths around the procedure including diminished sex drive and satisfaction.
On the side of men, some continue to associate vasectomies with emasculation akin to castration while others fear stigma.
The Reproductive Health Officer at Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) Joel Serucyacya, told the media that although the vasectomy program was introduced ten years ago, only about 3,400 men have had the procedure.
