Planned Parenthoods across the state are now offering a new birth control option. This time, the services are mostly for men.
Vasectomy services began Saturday, timed cheekily for Valentine’s Day, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts said in a statement last week. Two people successfully underwent the procedure, according to Dr. Luu Ireland, chief medical officer for the family planning and health services organization.
The nonprofit said it moved to offer the surgeries that sterilize male reproductive organs after it saw a jump in requests for them after President Trump’s election in 2024.
Ireland said the surgery typically takes less than a half hour and is done under local anesthesia.
“We are very, very lucky that we live in a time where we have dozens of birth control options,” Ireland said in an interview Monday, “but unfortunately, the vast majority of those options, bear the responsibility on the woman in the relationship, or the person who is pregnancy capable.”
Vasectomies allow “the person who bears sperm” to “share some of the responsibility to prevent pregnancy,” she said, “and help the couple shape the kind of family that they desire.”
The surgeries can be booked after a consultation at any of the nonprofit’s four locations across the state. The procedures all take place at the Worcester location and for now, happen once a month.
A study published in JAMA showed that after the Supreme Court ended the law guaranteeing the right to an abortion in the U.S., demand increased for more permanent methods of contraception, like vasectomies. Vasectomies are reversible through surgery.
Across New England, Planned Parenthood centers in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine also offer vasectomies.
In Massachusetts, the nonprofit says it will have capacity to schedule 10-12 procedures every month. As of Monday, five people were scheduled for March.
The surgery typically costs around $700 and many insurance plans cover it, including MassHealth, the nonprofit said. Planned Parenthood said it also sometimes offers discounts or sliding scale pay options.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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