Birth control is an important practice to many people, as without any form of it, there would be no way to prevent unwanted pregnancies. There are over a dozen forms of birth control, and while all have about the same rate of prevention, some methods are much easier to use than others. Every form of birth control has its own advantages and disadvantages, and before deciding on which one to use primarily, all types should be considered.
There is one birth control method that is 100 effective all the time. As you can probably guess, that method is abstinence. It is impossible to get pregnant if you are not having sex, and that truth is as old as the animal kingdom itself. Unfortunately, the point of contraception is to be able to engage in sex without the risk of pregnancy, so abstinence is ultimately not a good path for an adult.
Another method exists which does not involve the use of any special apparatuses. This is the natural family planning method, which involves the woman measuring her body temperature every day and checking for changes in cervical mucus. By finding these values, the time of ovulation can be calculated, and as long as sex does not occur during ovulation, pregnancy will not occur. However, this method is difficult to follow for working adults, and involves a moderate amount of work. It also is not 100 accurate, as many factors can affect body temperature besides ovulation.
The most common and well known form of birth control is condoms. Condoms require no work on the woman s part, and are instead used each intercourse session by the male. This particular barrier method has come a long way from being simple pieces of latex. There are now several varieties of condoms, and new variations are coming out every year. Makes sense, since condoms are the most popular barrier method, and sales of the product reach tens of millions of dollars a year.
Several devices can be inserted over the cervix to act as barriers to sperm and release spermicide. These include the diaphragm, contraceptive sponge, and cervical cap. All of these devices are similar, but many women prefer some options over others due to personal preferences.
Finally, there are the permanent solutions to birth control. For the male, the common surgery is the vasectomy. In a vasectomy, the vas deferens (which is the sperm transportation route) is severed from the urethra, so when semen is released, there is no sperm present. This is a very effective surgery that rarely has negative side effects, and in the case one decides they do want to have children, the surgery can be reversed.
The female version of a vasectomy is a tubal ligation. In this procedure, the fallopian tubes are closed shut so no eggs can be released in to them. Without any eggs, fertilization and pregnancy cannot occur. In a marriage, there is often debate about whether who should get the permanent surgery, as it is only required that one partner get it.
The male should logically always be the one to get surgery, as the incidences of death or accidents are much lower in vasectomies than in tubal ligation. In any surgery there are risks, and although they are small, it is better to be safe than sorry.
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