Out of 5,194 sterilisations, only 11 were men
PANAJI
The preference to choose permanent sterilisation procedures as a family planning option being higher among women rather than men is not unusual and in fact the norm across societies but in Goa it is seemingly extreme.
Of the 5,000-odd such sterilisation procedures done in government hospitals in the last three years in Goa, women accounted for a whopping 99.78% of these.
According to health department data, a total of 5,194 sterilisation surgeries were performed in government hospitals in the State in the last three years and 5,183 of these (99.78 per cent) were performed on women.
Only 11 men (0.21 per cent) underwent surgery as an option for family planning.
According to senior officials of the health department’s family welfare bureau, sterilisation surgeries called vasectomies are available to men as an option of permanent birth control and for women tubectomies.
In 2022-23, 1,463 women underwent sterilisation surgery and only three men opted for it.
The following year in 2023-24, the number of surgeries on women increased by 528 and the number of male surgeries by two. That year, 1,991 women and five men underwent the surgery. Last year (2024-25), 1,729 women and three men opted for it.
A senior DHS doctor said, it is common that the woman rather than the man in the family will undergo the permanent birth control surgery across the country.
“The fact that the burden of bearing children is extremely higher on the woman is the main contributing reason,” the official said, adding that the health department does not force anyone to opt for the procedure.
“Basically, men only donate sperm in the process of fertilisation. The rest of the pregnancy, childbirth, child rearing and often family management are all done by the woman which is why they often decide to have the surgery,” the doctor said.
The department provides counseling to families and especially to women. They are asked whether they want to have a permanent sterilisation or a temporary pregnancy. Further treatments are carried out accordingly.
