‘I’m committed to her and the family’: positive accounts of vasectomy among New Zealand men

Abstract

Background: More than 15 years ago, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) identified men’s involvement with reproductive and contraceptive tasks as vital for improving women’s reproductive health worldwide. The uptake of vasectomy provides one measure of men’s involvement in reproductive and contraceptive actions, but uptake requires the negotiation of a complex set of social and psychological meanings related to masculinity, sexuality and contraceptive involvement. The limited research in this area paints a largely negative picture around vasectomy, emphasising fears, side effects, and men being pressured into having the operation, but it is not the only account of vasectomy. Objectives: The aim of this research was to examine the accounts of New Zealand men who had undergone vasectomy. Method: Interviews with 28 men who had opted to have a vasectomy (16 had children; 12 did not) based in New Zealand, a country with a high rate of vasectomy, offer a more positive portrayal of the meanings and experiences of vasectomy. Results: Men referred to vasectomy as a positive reflection of their identities, and their choice to have it as exemplifying personal characteristics they valued. Such accounts disrupt the common-sense story of vasectomy as negative or difficult for men, and allow it to be positioned as a positive choice for heterosexual male reproductive involvement and responsibility

Keywords:

• vasectomy
• interviews
• masculine identity
• responsibility
• contraceptive equality

Notes

1. While there is some suggestion that a couple or individual deciding to call themselves childfree is insulting to those that have children, this group is considerably more marginalised (and in many cases stigmatised) than those that have children (Gillespie, 2003; Mawson, 2006). Recognising this, for the purpose of this study, I will refer to couples without children as childfree, a decision which also honours the identity work done in using this label, and its importance in the reduction of felt stigma that many feel (Cameron, 1997).

2. It is a common trope to hear that traditional masculine identity in New Zealand involved a strong allegiance to rugby, (horse)racing and beer (Phillips, 1996). In this list, Jeremy replaced the racing with ‘shagging’ and colloquially referred to the beer aspect with ‘getting pissed’, however the overall meaning would carry recognisable cultural capital.