The legendary Brazilian forward Ronaldo exposed himself to vasectomy (vasoresection) and "shut the factory of children," as he said. Ronaldo is not the only footballer exposed to sterilization. The king of football Pele applied to surgeons after he had four children.

And how is such an execution taken in Armenia, what is it like and is it possible to restore fertility after surgical contraception? This is the topic of the interview of NEWS.am Medicine with the Head of General, oncological and laparoscopic surgery clinic in Medical center “Shengavit”  Ruben Hovhannisyan.

- There are a number of topics in our world, that interest the female part of the population, but this interest is carefully concealed in connection with an alleged negative reaction of the male half. It is good, that today we decided to talk about one of such topics that are a taboo for many people. We finally decided to raise the issue, which is interesting to everyone, but no one wants to ask, that is, “to be spotted”.

Aren’t you afraid to pass for an anti-patriot?!

- Anticipating the indignation of many "advanced" readers, I want to immediately dismiss the charges of anti-patriotism or something even worse. I can discuss such a subject by definition, because I am an urologist. My professional activities include couples counseling on sexual sphere and family planning. Unfortunately, the majority of our people are unskilled in these matters. The situation with the knowledge in this sphere is poor, and this has negative impact on the health of men and women. Those concepts and ideas, by which our countrymen are guided during their sexual intercourse, as well as ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies, are sometimes unnatural and even anti-physiological. It would seem that if there is a condom, what other methods of contraception can we talk about? But no, it is very much disliked by many, and for some people this method is simply unaccepted, as a result of which the pairs resort to extremely hard tricks. So this is the reason why we started this conversation today. 

For many men, the word "sterilization" sounds like "castration"...

- I would like to reveal the main myth, connected with the method of male sterilization which is good news: sterilization is not castrating, as the majority of men and women think. This is not castration, but only one of the methods to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Sometimes it is called also surgical contraception, so that the name does not sound so threatening for the grassroots. The idea of the method is the following: the vas deferens is being dissected (vasotomy) or part of them is removed (vasosection), through which the «little imp»-spermatozoids get out of the testicles and mix with other components of the sperm. Thus, the testicle function is completely preserved, as well as the ejaculation, with only one difference: after the sterilization the sperm does not contain a single spermatozoid and, therefore, is not able to cause pregnancy.

How safe is the process of surgical contraception?

- The method is absolutely safe; it takes 10-15 minutes, under local anesthesia by means of two incisions of 1.0 cm on each of the halves of the scrotum. In addition, the method is also very reliable, which is important.

Then why, in spite of this, this method of contraception is not so popular?

- Yes, being a very effective method, however, sterilization is not recognized as one of the most widespread methods of contraception. In many countries it is associated with traditional notions of family and man, ethnic or religious constraints or features of mentality. One of the reasons is also the fact, that it is necessary to stay in the hospital for several hours, undergo surgical operation, though minor, but operation. Speaking about Armenia, it must be said that few people have heard about this at all, and for a long time, this method will remain in the shadows, as a method of contraception.

Are there any contraindications for male sterilization?

- For medical reasons, this procedure is done to prevent infectious inflammation of the testicles.

There are very few contraindications for this method, and one of them is the young age.

Is the process of surgical contraception reversible?

 – «Surgical contraception is an irreversible process». Here is another myth about this method. Wrong. Firstly, a man can be a father with the help of modern technology of artificial insemination, because his testicles are functioning properly, and secondly, if he wants to lie down on surgical table again, it is possible to restore the patency of the vas deferens. Though, it is much more expensive than vasoresection, however, in many countries there are urologists that do these operations, and nothing else in their entire professional life - 10-15 sterilizations and recoveries per day. Particularly, this method is very popular in the Netherlands, where approximately 10% of the male population is sterilized and worldwide approximately 20 million pairs chose this method for protection against pregnancy. But it is also obvious, that this method cannot prevent from infections.

And, finally…

- We, doctors, do not challenge to make a revolution in the minds of our countrymen; we understand that it is possible, that Armenian mentality includes a similar attitude to this method of sterilization. But we have to inform people, that the problem of unwanted pregnancy is solved, and very effectively. Armenian families have the right to defend themselves against such an ugly phenomenon as abortion, and if we can save one woman from this execution, then we will consider our mission accomplished.

Yana Avchiyan