Family planning is a thing Maggie does not want to adhere to.

She has tried modern family planning methods from oral tablets to jabs, all seem to give her serious side effects.

She says her husband does not accept to use condoms because he believes it reduces the sensation.
Natural birth control methods have proved difficult for Maggie because she does not understand her cycle.

Maggie’s case is a common scenario in Africa, especially among the uneducated women. Way back before the introduction of modern family planning methods, women used the natural birth control methods such as prolonged breastfeeding or the withdrawal method.

But these methods over the years have proved not to be too effective. Women fall pregnant despite breastfeeding and the withdrawal method has equally proved difficult for some men who fail to detect their climax on time.

Some men argue that sex is not exciting if one is busy thinking about coming out. Maggie’s husband is a replica of many men not only in Zambia but Africa. The extent at which African men are concerned with family planning only goes as far as pushing their wives to go for family planning.

Despite male related family planning methods been available on the market, most men are sceptical about going for family planning.

Side effects

Like Maggie, Gloria Kananda, a 30-year-old mother of three, has equally serious side effect with the modern family planning.

She has tried all forms of available family planning but all gave her life threatening side effects.
Her husband Marlon took it upon himself to save his wife and went for vasectomy-an operation to cut or tie off the two tubes that carry sperm out of the testicles.

Marlon explains that that his wife tried all forms of family planning but all couldn’t work. He says after all failed the couple opted for condoms but that did not make Gloria comfortable.

“You know the issues with condoms, he might be using them elsewhere and argue that they are ours, I was not comfortable with it,” says Gloria.

It took a radio program for Marlon to decide to go for vasectomy.

‘’We were listening to a radio program and the Doctor, Francis Manda talked about It, (vasectomy), that’s when I considered going for it ,” says Marlon. Gloria said she did not take her husband serious when he told her about the vasectomy issue.

“I thought he was joking, you know African men with their ‘issues’ they regard them sacred,’’ says Gloria.

She says she only took her husband serious when they setup an appointment with Doctor Manda to learn more about vasectomy. Gloria said she was sceptical to allow the husband to undergo the surgery because she thought it could affect her husband’s sexuality.

‘’I didn’t like the idea because I thought our sex lives would be affected but after the doctor explained to us I understood.’’

Surgery

Gloria says they took time to think over their decision and finally it was decided that her husband goes for the surgery.

Although Marlon’s family took the news with mixed feelings, he says he is happy with decision he took and does not regret it because it has helped his wife live a happy health life. He says the operation has no any side effects, his sex life is as normal as before.

‘’My sex life is as normal as before,’’ says Marlon.

The reality of death is one thing that the couple dreads but they say if such an eventuality had to occur they would consider adoption. ‘’I think about it and I pray that it doesn’t happen but if it happens the option we have is adoption,” says Gloria.

On whether vasectomy is reversible or not, a medical practitioner Dr Francis Manda who performed the vasectomy on Marlon says the surgery is reversible with the right equipment. He says although most African countries do not have the equipment, some well development African nations can reverse the surgery.

‘’Its reversible but we don’t have the equipment in Zambia, some African countries have the equipment and the process is reversed.’’

Dr Manda says vasectomy is very safe in men unlike in women.

‘’For women its very complicated because the surgery is performed inside, it even makes women lose interest in sex sometimes it can even lead to death if not properly done. The surgery is very safe in men, it has no side effects,’’ says Dr Manda.

Dr Manda says vasectomy does not have any effect on sexuality.

“There are myths that when you go for vasectomy you stop performing, that is not true. Your manhood is not tampered with and you ejaculate as normal as before but ejaculate blanks. What you ejaculate is the fluid in the prostrate,” Dr Manda explained.

He says in Zambia only three out of ten men undergo vasectomy in a year despite having the information on how safe the process is.