This is a shift in the national contraceptive landscape. French men, long resistant to vasectomy, are using this method of final sterilization en masse. In 2022, no fewer than 30,288 operations were performed by urological surgeons to cut the vas deferens, which transport sperm from the testicles to the prostate, thus preventing their arrival in the penis. In 2010, only 1,940 men used it.

These figures were published Monday, February 12, by the Epi-Phare team led by Professor Mahmoud Zureik, who studies the behavior of the French using health system data. Epidemiologists were alerted by urologists who were seeing increasing demand for vasectomies, particularly among young men, and wanted to take stock of the practice. “All the more important because, in contrast to women, there are very few contraceptives available to men”, emphasizes Doctor Noémie Roland, who led the study. In reality only one thing: the condom. “This can be an important tool in sharing the burden of contraception.”continues, Women’s Health Program Manager at Epi-Phare.

The magnitude of the result surprised the researcher. “Such rapid developments are unusual in epidemiology”, she insists. In twelve years, the incidence among men aged 20 to 70 has increased from 9.8 vasectomies per 100,000 inhabitants to 149.5. Fast and constant development. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of procedures continued to increase, except for a plateau observed in 2020. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic led to the postponement of many unrelated surgical procedures. vital.

In the global landscape of male sterilization, France has long been a poor student, far behind Anglo-Saxon countries, northern Europe and South Korea. While the prevalence of vasectomy appeared to be directly related to gender equality indicators, France was an exception. Undoubtedly the effect of a pronatalist policy, which is hardly compatible with an irreversible act, argues Noémie Roland. Although theoretically the vas deferens can be restored, the return to normality remains uncertain. Therefore, no campaign has ever been carried out by the health authorities. The urologists themselves seemed to be cautious, especially when it came to young men.

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