Very much agreed. I believe condoms should be handed out like candy, that it should be much easier for women to obtain oral contraceptives, and that it should be an easy no-questions-asked process for people to obtain permanent sterilization.
My husband and I are positive we don't want kids. I've known all my life, but we waited until we felt we were adult enough to make the decision (age 22) for him to get a vasectomy. We tried to do it in California through Kaiser and it was incredible how many hoops we had to jump through. Doctors' consults, paperwork, and we even had to attend a class. (What?)
He didn't get the vasectomy until we moved to Washington in '06 at which point he needed a doctor's consult, which was a bit like hazing. The doctor "jokingly" hassled him saying things like, "getting neutered, huh?" and "getting the ol' snip." I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what was said, but my spouse thinks it was sort of a heckling mental health assessment, poking him with harsh words to make sure this was something he wanted to do. I can kind of see where he's coming from with that since it's a permanent procedure and all, but it still sounds harder to get a doctor to give a vasectomy than an abortion. There's something very wrong with that. (Even after he got the vasectomy, I still take oral contraceptives. I'm that careful.)
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regna
Re: Generalizing much?
Date: 2009-02-04 11:50 pm (UTC)My husband and I are positive we don't want kids. I've known all my life, but we waited until we felt we were adult enough to make the decision (age 22) for him to get a vasectomy. We tried to do it in California through Kaiser and it was incredible how many hoops we had to jump through. Doctors' consults, paperwork, and we even had to attend a class. (What?)
He didn't get the vasectomy until we moved to Washington in '06 at which point he needed a doctor's consult, which was a bit like hazing. The doctor "jokingly" hassled him saying things like, "getting neutered, huh?" and "getting the ol' snip." I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what was said, but my spouse thinks it was sort of a heckling mental health assessment, poking him with harsh words to make sure this was something he wanted to do. I can kind of see where he's coming from with that since it's a permanent procedure and all, but it still sounds harder to get a doctor to give a vasectomy than an abortion. There's something very wrong with that. (Even after he got the vasectomy, I still take oral contraceptives. I'm that careful.)
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.