Tubal Ligations Are Riskier Than Vasectomies — Yet They're Performed Far More Often

Peruse online parenting or relationship forums, and you'll find an endless supply of posts from heterosexual women lamenting their partner's unwillingness to undergo a vasectomy, even when they've agreed on family planning decisions. Questions like, "Am I the Buttface for asking my husband to get a vasectomy?" or "Am I wrong to demand my husband get a vasectomy?" are common. So are threads of women frustrated with the outright refusal of their male partners to even consider the procedure, often hosting hundreds of comments.

Although vasectomies are simpler, safer, and less expensive, tubal ligations (getting one’s “tubes tied”) outpace them 3 to 1 in the United States and are still performed far more often worldwide. Recent research from BabyCenter targeting mothers with children under 5 confirms this pattern, revealing tubal ligations as the preferred choice among families, equally as popular as IUDs. This trend is supported by decades of research, with one study even finding vasectomies declined from 2002 to 2017.

Tubal Ligations Are Riskier Than Vasectomies — Yet They're Performed Far More Often