The Burden of Family Planning on Women - Why Are Men Left Out of the Conversation?
This week, we’re addressing a critical but often overlooked issue: the burden of family planning on women and why men are frequently absent from this conversation. From preconception to post-delivery, women bear a disproportionate share of the physical, mental, and financial sacrifices involved in family planning.
TLDR:
Disproportionate Burden: Women handle the majority of responsibilities related to family planning, while men often remain uninvolved.
Leisure vs. Responsibility: Men enjoy leisure sex with minimal consequences, whereas women face significant physical and emotional risks.
Societal Judgment: Women are criticized regardless of their family planning choices, whether they have no children or many.
Slow Progress: Scientific and technological advances lag in addressing women's reproductive health compared to other fields.
Call to Action: Men should actively participate in family planning, including using contraception and supporting their partners.
The Disproportionate Burden on Women
From before conception, women carry the burden of children. Men may desire children, but it is often women who decide on the number of children, bearing the physical, mental, and financial sacrifices that come with those decisions.
Women often undertake significant emotional labor in planning and preparing for a family. They research and select contraceptive methods, track their menstrual cycles, and manage fertility issues, all while balancing other life responsibilities.
Data Insights:
Contraceptive Usage: According to the World Health Organization, over 60% of contraceptive users globally are women, emphasizing the gender imbalance in family planning responsibilities.
Leisure vs. Responsibility
Men typically engage in sex with leisure, primarily needing to protect themselves from STDs. In contrast, women must protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and bear the consequences alone if contraception fails. This imbalance results in women facing more significant physical and emotional risks associated with sexual activity.
Women often endure the side effects of hormonal contraceptives, ranging from mood swings and weight gain to more severe health issues.
Additionally, in the event of an unplanned pregnancy, it is usually women who deal with the medical, financial, and social repercussions.
Relevant Statistics:
Contraceptive Responsibility: A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70% of men believe contraception is solely a woman's responsibility, highlighting the disconnect in shared responsibility.
Societal Judgment
Women face societal shame regardless of their reproductive choices. Whether childless, having multiple children, or managing children with significant age gaps, societal judgment is relentless. This pervasive judgment can affect women’s mental health and their decisions regarding family planning.
Case in Point:
Public Perception: Women are scrutinized for having no children, being too career-focused, or having "too many" children, regardless of their personal circumstances or desires. Infact, the current Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, was publicly shamed by the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Republican Party, JD Vance, who referred to her as a ‘childless cat lady’ even though Harris is an active parent to her step-children.
Slow Progress in Women's Reproductive Health
Advances in science and technology are slow when it comes to women’s reproductive health. Despite significant progress in other medical fields, contraceptive options for women still often involve hormonal treatments with severe side effects.
While male contraceptive methods are in development, they lag decades behind female options in terms of availability and variety. This slow progress contributes to the ongoing burden women face in managing family planning.
Technological Lag:
Side Effects: Many women experience severe side effects from hormonal contraceptives, including depression, blood clots, and decreased libido.
The Call to Action
It's time for men to take an active role in family planning. Men should consider options such as vasectomies, consistently use condoms, abstain from sex during their partner’s postpartum recovery, and avoid guilt-tripping their partners. Shared responsibility in family planning can significantly reduce the physical and emotional burden on women.
Encouraging Male Participation:
Education Campaigns: Education and awareness campaigns are crucial. According to a study by the Journal of Contraceptive Studies, couples who jointly plan family size report higher satisfaction and lower stress levels.
Practical Steps: Men should engage in open conversations with their partners about family planning and explore all contraceptive options together.
Practical Steps:
Contraceptive Methods: Men should be open to using condoms and considering vasectomies, which are effective and less invasive than many female contraceptive methods.
Supportive Behavior: Men should support their partners by abstaining from sex during recovery periods and avoiding behavior that pressures women into making sole decisions about family planning.
Moving Forward
To achieve true gender equity, we must recognize and address the unequal burden of family planning on women. Men should be encouraged and educated to participate fully in these decisions, helping to alleviate the physical and emotional load on women. By fostering a culture of shared responsibility, we can ensure healthier, more equitable outcomes for all.
Addressing these disparities and promoting shared responsibility can pave the way for a future where family planning is a balanced, equitable process, benefiting both men and women.
The Care Gap is written by Blessing Adesiyan, Founder & CEO of Mother Honestly Group Inc., the parent company for The Care Gap, Caring Africa, and Caring Blocks where she is on a mission to close the care gap for families, workplaces, and economies globally through content, advocacy, and technology. Follow @blessing.adesiyan @thecaregap for more.
An often overlooked opportunity for positive change in this area is to make supplies and education for Fertility Awareness methods more accessible and covered/reimbursable by insurance. A small but growing population has been seeking this as an alternative to pharmaceutical or medical device contraception for years now. But although these methods are typically cheaper and less invasive, most people have to pay out of pocket because the insurance industry doesn’t recognize them or have their interests tied up with the pharmaceutical business. Because these methods are more data-driven, it is also easier for men to take an active role.