In India, where tubal ligation is the preferred method of birth control, women are often convinced by government healthcare workers to undergo the procedure with cash incentives.
Unlike tubal ligation, which is performed in women, vasectomies are reversible but men in India are hesitant to do it, thinking it will affect their virility. — AFP
India is set to become the world's most populous nation by mid-year, according to United Nations figures published last Wednesday, overtaking China, where the population shrank last year for the first time since 1960. Since then the focus has shifted to women in India, with tubal ligation the preferred method of birth control.
"I thought it would make me weak," Deepak, a factory worker, said when asked why he chose not to have a vasectomy.Poonam Muttreja from Population Foundation of India said Deepak's fears about how a vasectomy – a reversible, 10-minute procedure – would affect him were common in what is still a"very patriarchal society"."The most popular myth that exists among both men and women is that a man will lose his virility," Muttreja told AFP.
"People have a misconception that no-scalpel vasectomy for males leads to impotence... This has become a taboo," said Dr Ashish Garg, the facility's medical superintendent.