section_path: Methods/Sterilization
section_name: Sterilization
paragraph_text: Sterilization
  
  Two broad categories exist, surgical and non-surgical.
  
  Surgical sterilization is available in the form of tubal ligation for women and vasectomy for men. Tubal ligation decreases the risk of ovarian cancer. Short term complications are twenty times less likely from a vasectomy than a tubal ligation. After a vasectomy, there may be swelling and pain of the scrotum which usually resolves in one or two weeks. Chronic scrotal pain associated with negative impact on quality of life occurs after vasectomy in about 1–2% of men. With tubal ligation, complications occur in 1 to 2 percent of procedures with serious complications usually due to the anesthesia. Neither method offers protection from sexually transmitted infections. Sometimes, salpingectomy is also used for sterilization in women.
  
  Non-surgical sterilization methods have also been explored.Fahim et al. found that heat exposure, especially high-intensity ultrasound, was effective either for temporary or permanent contraception depending on the dose, e.g. selective destruction of germ cells and Sertoli cells without affecting Leydig cells or testosterone levels. Chemical, e.g. drug-based methods are also available, e.g. orally-administered Lonidamine for temporary, or permanent (depending on the dose) fertility management.Boris provides a method for chemically inducing either temporary or non-reversible sterility, depending on the dose, "Permanent sterility in human males can be obtained by a single oral dosage containing from about 18 mg/kg to about 25 mg/kg".
  
  The permanence of this decision may cause regret in some men and women. Of women who have undergone tubal ligation after the age of 30, about 6% regret their decision, as compared with 20–24% of women who received sterilization within one year of delivery and before turning 30, and 6% in nulliparous women sterilized before the age of 30. By contrast, less than 5% of men are likely to regret sterilization. Men who are more likely to regret sterilization are younger, have young or no children, or have an unstable marriage. In a survey of biological parents, 9% stated they would not have had children if they were able to do it over again.
  
  Although sterilization is considered a permanent procedure, it is possible to attempt a tubal reversal to reconnect the fallopian tubes or a vasectomy reversal to reconnect the vasa deferentia. In women, the desire for a reversal is often associated with a change in spouse. Pregnancy success rates after tubal reversal are between 31 and 88 percent, with complications including an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy. The number of males who request reversal is between 2 and 6 percent. Rates of success in fathering another child after reversal are between 38 and 84 percent; with success being lower the longer the time period between the vasectomy and the reversal. Sperm extraction followed by in vitro fertilization may also be an option in men.