The January 8, 1986 edition of the Toronto Star revealed that sterilization has replaced the birth control pill as the number one method of contraception in Canada.
In a 1984 study of 5,315 women aged between 18 and 49, most of whom are married, 48 per cent said that they rely on sterilization to prevent pregnancy. This includes both male and female sterilization. Only 28 per cent said they used the pill.
Professor T.R. Balakrishnan of the University of Western Ontario who conducted the study, stated that the pill still remains the number one contraceptive method among single women aged 18 to 24 and married women up to the age of 29.
It is believed that the health problems related to the pill, including blood clots, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes, have caused many women and men to turn to the more final solution of sterilization. According to Dr. Philip Alderman, a North Vancouver general practitioner, most of the people who choose sterilization are married, in their 30s and 40s and with children. In North America, after a woman has given birth to her third or fourth child, it is commonplace for a doctor to suggest sterilization. Dr. Alderman himself has performed approximately 10,000 vasectomies and also sterilizes single people with no children who are apparently convinced of their decision to terminate their procreative capacities.
Statistics for sterilization across Canada from 1974 to 1984 are as follows:
Tubal Vasectomies Total
Legations
1974-75 104,095 38,342 142,437
1975-76 106,612 34,131 140,743
1976-77 107,229 35,192 142,421
1977-78 107,411 41,521 148,932
1978-79 105,509 46,069 151,578
1979-80 92,427 41,890 134.317
1980-81 87,277 39,026 126,303
1981-82 85,935 36,226 122,161
1982-83 88,747 42,111 130,858
1983-84 85,222 43,327 128,549
_______
1,368,299
