Program offers free birth control for men

Men don't have a lot of birth control options, but a Muskegon County donor has offered to pay for nine men to receive the permanent one.

The Peggy Jensen and Gerald Nehra Donor Advised Fund, part of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, will pay for nine low-income Muskegon County men to receive vasectomies if their insurance doesn't cover the procedure.

A vasectomy cuts and seals off the tubes that carry sperm into a man's semen, so he can still have sex and ejaculate but can't get a woman pregnant. It doesn't protect against sexually transmitted infections, so men who are not in mutually monogamous relationships still should use condoms.

The surgery takes about a half hour and general anesthesia isn't typically necessary, making it less complicated then female sterilization.

"Most of the men who've had them have been able to go back to work the next day," Public Health Muskegon County Maternal Child Services Supervisor Gwen Williams said.

Though having an operation may be frightening, it can also be "empowering" for men who are absolutely sure they don't want children, Williams said. Women have multiple reliable birth control options, but men have to use condoms, get a vasectomy or trust that their partners are using female birth control options correctly, she said.

"Of course men cringe when you talk about bringing a scalpel close to their testicles, but the flip side is they're not relying on their partner to be responsible for something that's going to affect the rest of your life," she said. "Think about child support for the rest of your life because of a careless evening."

Planned Parenthood will screen applicants and consider whether they meet the income guidelines, PHMC Health Educator Faith Groesbeck said.

The Affordable Care Act mandated that contraception be covered without co-pays for women, but doesn't provide men with the same coverage, Williams said.

"They're left out of the discussion again," she said. "People lately are not making the connection that birth control is something everyone should care about."

Groesbeck, who monitors fetal and infant mortality in Muskegon County, said despite rhetoric about birth control as a women's issue, it also affects men and society in general. Babies are more likely to be premature, have a low birth weight or suffer other complications if the pregnancy wasn't planned, she said, and they're also more likely to grow up in poverty, which makes them more likely to have health problems later in life and less likely to do well in school.

By Megan Hart mhart2@mlive.com