Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Trina Read

GET UPDATES FROM Trina Read
 

Why is His Vasectomy My Responsiblity?

Posted: 02/26/2013 12:25 pm

As I limped "blue balled" to read a book in bed I said to my husband in frustration, "You know if you were fixed, we could be having sex right now."

Equally as frustrated he replied, "What's wrong with using a condom!?"

"I'm ovulating today" I warily replied, "and I don't want to take any chances. The condom could break."

It all started a few minutes earlier when my husband nuzzled my neck and I got a warm tingly sensation. I'd been thinking about sex all that long, long day. As Murphy's Law would have it, it was one of those oh-so-rare spontaneous sex moments where we were both in the sex zone.

I was willing, ready and eager to pounce. Images of clothes being flung off, wild sex occurring filled my day-dreaming head -- it had been so long since both of us had been in the zone I was practically drooling.

But alas, as you've already read, I was ovulating and any sex drive was completely zapped thinking about accidentally conceiving.

In my mind, the answer to our spontaneous sex woes is simple: a vasectomy. Such a minor thing to have in order for us to have a happy and healthy sex life. Or at least for me it is such a simple and minor thing.

Problem is, it's been a year that my husband has been dodging the "you need to get a vasectomy" bullet. He's given some valid and some pretty lame excuses as to why he can't have one.

I've patiently listened to them all trying to be empathetic. Because I do appreciate men get all weirded out when it comes to messing with their "boys." It's the main reason why I've been patiently persistent using condoms.

Hoping too many moments of, "Oh we're in the shower and you want sex. OK. BUT you need to get a condom. Off you go." would wear him down. Nope.

Apparently he's happy to use condoms for the next 50 years of our marriage. I'm growing tired of them and, like this spontaneous horny day, it's getting in the way of my sexual happiness.

So I've booked the appointment. All the while listening to him gripe, stomp all over the house and have a man-temper-tantrum. Which leads me to my point: Why is birth control up to me and why do I have to be the nagging wife to get this done? It just doesn't seem fair.

Loading Slideshow...
  • Birth Control Meets 'The Game Of Life'

    "You never know what you may want later." This ad successfully plays to our fantasies of being able to choose what we do and don't want in our lives exactly when we want it. If you've never quite abandoned the illusion that your future could be charted through the decision between a split-level and a tudor, this is the Pill for you.

  • 'Hey, Logical.' 'Hey, Emotional.'

    Yes, women have mood swings, but this suggests that we are effectively Jekyll and Hydes every 28 days. Isn't part of selling a product <em>flattering</em> your customer?

  • NuvaRing Lets You Quit Synchronized Swimming Class

    According to this ad, using the insertable NuvaRing will allow you to "let your hair down" and cut synchronized swimming class. 'Break free, women oppressed by The Pill!' these women seem to say as they strip into two-piece suits and smile knowingly at one another. (And that wink in the hot tub? We aren't even going to guess what that's about.)

  • 'We're Not Gonna Take It'

    This <a href="http://www.mmm-online.com/bayer-runs-corrective-yaz-ad-agrees-to-preclearance/article/127205/" target="_hplink">ad was actually pulled by the FDA</a>. Apparently "We're Not Gonna Take It" wasn't the best song to promote a pill that needs to be taken daily to be effective.

  • Regular Periods Make Us Frolic

    Women in tutus frolic in a forest and crashing waves, joyous that their periods are regularized by Ortho Tri-Cyclen LO. Because doesn't having your period arrive on time make you want to don a ring of pink tulle?

  • Wait, What Just Happened?

    Spy ring? Spandex commercial? Unclear.

  • Birth Control Ad As Mini RomCom

    Sound familiar? A series of Mr. Wrongs is finally followed by a very sweet, classically good-looking Mr. Right. The ad closes chastely with Mr. Right kissing her goodnight and leaving her at her door (because suggesting actual sex in a birth control ad would just be so tawdry, right?), but now she has opt-ions ..

  • 'When Your Family Is Complete'

    Brilliant or despicable? This ad targets the stressed-to-the-limit mom by threatening her with the prospect of yet another child to chase around a soccer field.

  • The Primary Use For Birth Control Is Mood Control?

    This ad, the second in our slideshow for Yaz, shows women having "girl talk" about The Pill at a nightclub -- and focusing on how it improves their moods. They never quite mention it's primary purpose: preventing pregnancy.

 
 
 

Follow Trina Read on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@DrTrinaRead

FOLLOW WOMEN
As I limped "blue balled" to read a book in bed I said to my husband in frustration, "You know if you were fixed, we could be having sex right now." Equally as frustrated he replied, "What's wrong w...
As I limped "blue balled" to read a book in bed I said to my husband in frustration, "You know if you were fixed, we could be having sex right now." Equally as frustrated he replied, "What's wrong w...
 
 
  • Comments
  • 138
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Bloggers
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3  Next ›  Last »  (3 total)
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Hal Wood
02:47 PM on 02/28/2013
Trina maybe your husband isn't ready to say no more children. If you have decided no more children , you should get your tubes tied. 50% of marriages end in divorce and yours is on track to because of your controlling behavior.
11:09 AM on 02/27/2013
Men don't get pregnant, but obviously should have a part to play in not getting a woman pregnant. This doesn't mean she can nag him into a surgical procedure because she doesn't want to use (or trust) condoms. Even this procedure isn't 100% foolproof, or without risk.
Women's bodies are women's bodies. They do what they were designed to do, and pressuring the men through sex, by withholding or dictating the terms of any intercourse, is going to cramp the relationship unless you both work out what you want in terms of kids and safety first so you can avoid issues like this later.
This is a topic you have to speak with to each other very seriously about, and just acknowledge that whims and "in the moment sex" don't get acted on all the time.

I think she's selfish in the demand. If he doesn't want to do this, fine, try asking again another time and that should be good enough for the moment, if not.. move on.
12:59 AM on 02/27/2013
Before I got married, I made sure my wife was dead-certain she never *ever* wanted kids, the same as I am. (It's shocking how many couples fail to have that conversation to a definite conclusion.) Then I got my vasectomy, and I've never regretted it for second.

I didn't get my vasectomy only for my wife, I got it as a major gift to *myself* too. Ms Read's husband needs to look at it that way. He also needs to grow up and man up, by the sounds of it.
11:28 AM on 02/27/2013
What are you talking about "grow up and man up"? Why can't he be happy with condoms? Maybe he isn't completely certain he doesn't want kids as you are? There could be many legitimate reasons he doesn't want one.

Granted, there could be many non-legitimate reasons as well, but since we don't hear anything from his side we can only speculate reasons. What we have before us is a story about a wife, bullying her husband into having a medical procedure he doesn't want, using and/or withholding sex to manipulate him, and complaining about how unfair it is all the responsibility is on her when there is zero evidence she is taking any responsibility at all for birth control when we know the husband already is.

So please explain where you get "he needs to grow up and man up" out of this story?
09:46 PM on 02/27/2013
"Maybe he isn't completely certain he doesn't want kids..."
Why then would he marry a woman who plainly doesn't want them? There can't possibly be a good outcome to that impasse can there? 
I will say that it was flaky of Ms Read to air her private laundry in this way without including such fundamental information as whether the issue of no-kids was agreed on before the marriage, or indeed whether or not they've already had some kids.
03:04 PM on 02/27/2013
I 100% disagree. You made a conscious choice based on YOUR needs. It just so happened that your needs are in line with your partner's. You wanted the vasectomy. Why do you think you have the right to judge someone else who clearly isn't in the same position as you?

"Man up?" Yeah, you're such a man for choosing to undergo a procedure you wanted. How hard that decision must have been for you.
09:34 PM on 02/27/2013
"It just so happened that your needs are in line with your partner's."
Well...yeah! Don't two people ensure that such a fundamental alignment of needs is there, fully voiced and agreed upon, before they decide to get married? To do otherwise is plainly ridiculous, no?
08:33 PM on 02/26/2013
What if everyone makes birth control decisions for their own body? You don't want to be pregnant, do what works for you, You do not want to impregnate someone, the same deal goes.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
BUTCHER99
08:02 PM on 02/26/2013
I had a vasectomy years and years ago. It was my choice. My wife wanted me to have one and I decided I would. You however want your husband to go in and get one because it is less invasive. Everything you have said about him applies to you as well. With the new procedures there is very little difference. Only 1 or two stitches for him of ea. side and the same for you. Yes it is a slightly more invasive and more expensive for you but if you feel this is so important just do it. Quit the nagging.
06:59 PM on 02/26/2013
OK I just got this done in January. Yes, my wife was the one pressuring me too, she didn't want to be on birth control (didn't work for the first kid) and its far less invasive for the man to do it vs the woman and yadda yadda...I stopped paying attention. Anyways, her nagging eventually got me in the doctors office and booked for the proceedure. I got to buy new Joe Boxers outta the deal from Costco (need tight fit post proceedure yah!) and the promise of being allowed to be a baby for a weekend and not do much. When I went in for the proceedure they gave me a sedative then asked if I would mind if a student sat in on the proceedure, I was drugged up enough so WTH right? So in walks a 20 year old med student who proceeds to be told the technical terms for the parts of my junk...awesome! Anyways, they gave me a stack of T3's and I wondered around the parking lot till my wife picked me up. In the end it did hurt, sorta a tugging sensation for about a week but the overall annoyance lasted about 2 weeks. FYI the 20 rule is BS! you have to wait like 3 months and then get tested...and by tested I mean get ready to use a cup and feel awkward in a doctors office (they all know what you just did). Oh well, she's happy.
01:07 AM on 02/27/2013
I had a vasectomy 13 years ago, never a worry since, quite painless really, and was in and out in five minutes or so, went home and sat with bag of frozen peas for a few hours then went to the bar for a few beers. Had the proceedure done on friday and was back at work monday.
11:30 AM on 02/27/2013
Studies have also shown that even with a vasectomy, 2 out of about 1000 people still get pregnant. So even vasectomies aren't a 100% gauarantee. Like all the crazy christians say, the only 100% effective method of birth control is not having sex.
06:58 PM on 02/26/2013
Has Mrs Read had children? If so how many? How old are Mrs and Mr Read?..... important factors.
06:34 PM on 02/26/2013
So many of the commenters are arguing that her husband should not be 'forced' into having a vasectomy. I think the author's point is that her husband can refuse to have surgery and not have to worry about an unwanted pregnancy because he knows that she will use some sort of birth control. The responsibility is just defaulted to her. Where is her right to refuse to use birth control? Why isn't he the default? Most women are responsible for birth control before marriage or before the couple has children because a vasectomy may not be reversible. So she may have already have been responsible for this burden for over a decade. In an equal partnership, shouldn't he have to take the next decade? The pill has a ton of side effects for many women, getting your tubes tied is major surgery with a longer recovery time and a much higher risk of infection, IUD's are a moral gray area for many women, condoms can be unreliable. In refusing to get surgery, her husband has basically forced her onto the pill or into surgery.
12:03 AM on 02/27/2013
He is the default. He wants condoms. Her reluctance to use condoms is much less of a concern than his reluctance to have surgery. Her husband has forced her into nothing.

Or did that make it into VAWA?
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Medusa Sant
Jedi on the streets. Sith in the sheets.
01:21 AM on 02/27/2013
Tubal ligation is a DAY SURGERY now. Its a laparoscopic procedure with very little downtime and a quick recovery. In the article the woman whines"
".....would wear him down. Nope.
Apparently he's happy to use condoms for the next 50 years of our marriage. I'm growing tired of them and, like this spontaneous horny day, it's getting in the way of my sexual happiness."

IN NO WAY IS HE FORCING HER ONTO THE PILL OR SURGERY.
This is just a woman who is upset about not getting her own way. Nobody should force someone else to go in for a surgery, for any reason, especially just because they are tired of using a condom.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
sgillhoolley
Occupy the discussion.
06:09 PM on 02/26/2013
Tell him that he needs to wear a condom from now on.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Medusa Sant
Jedi on the streets. Sith in the sheets.
01:23 AM on 02/27/2013
"Apparently he's happy to use condoms for the next 50 years of our marriage. I'm growing tired of them and, like this spontaneous horny day, it's getting in the way of my sexual happiness."
He's already wearing them.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
sgillhoolley
Occupy the discussion.
08:35 AM on 02/27/2013
Ah, then she needs to be less self-centered.  He should not have to undergo a permanent operation so that she can be spontaneous now and then.  There are female surgeries that can do the trick if it means that much to her.
05:59 PM on 02/26/2013
I want to get one so my girlfriend doesn't have to be on birth control. But most people tell me that because i am only 28 they won't do it. Maybe i should just go and see, eh?

Having kids is not something i ever want.
05:22 PM on 02/26/2013
He's not a dog, you don't just take him to the Vet to get his nuts snipped. If I felt I was being pressured or bullied into the situation, knowing me I would be even that much more less likely to do it. When he's ready he'll take you with him, or his next woman who may be more supportive of his decisions.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Copernicus TheWinner
05:15 PM on 02/26/2013
Heh, I love the responses of the oppressed men here. They never have to do anything to protect. It is always the woman who is expected to go through invasive procedures and deal with hormonal things like pills. Men need to do nothing, only cry when the woman gets pregnant and nobody asks them if they want to be a daddy.

Puhleeze, vasectomy is reversible. It is not as invasive as the female tubes operation and if you want to talk about side effects than things like pill have pretty bad ones too.

Nobody should be forced into operation, but the thing is that men never feel like it is their responsibility too. I recently talked to a friend of mine. he said he wants rights to get out of parenthood as well since women have the right to abort. I asked him if he would do any male birth control since he never wants kids. vasectomy, the shot, the new male pill that is supposed to be developed soon. He was like, "oh no, this is just wrong! She should do it, let it keep the way it is". With this attitude i hope he gets someone preggers one day and she sucks every cent out of him afterwards. Men are just selfish on this topic. And kind of spoiled.
12:06 AM on 02/27/2013
She's the one who's whining. Who's the selfish one? She can solve her problem. He already has a solution that she doesn't want.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Medusa Sant
Jedi on the streets. Sith in the sheets.
01:25 AM on 02/27/2013
Tubal ligation is a laparoscopic procedure now... Super fast recovery and virtually no down time.
05:00 PM on 02/26/2013
How old are you guys? Already have kids? If not, have the Mr. make a deposit at a sperm bank before any vasectomy. A decade from now you could both be with new partners and he may want (more) kids.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Prattly Ponsarello
That's me on the left...I think.
04:53 PM on 02/26/2013
Now THAT is the kind of reality show I'd tune into.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Pondering panda
04:43 PM on 02/26/2013
If condoms, the pill and other forms of contraception re too much of a hassle for you it's not your brands falt and you should not bully him into having a medicl procedure done! Go get your tubes tied. End of the dilemma!