For women who are certain they do not want children in the future, there are more options for permanent contraception than ever before. From traditional surgery to newer minimally invasive options, these one-time procedures provide "forever" birth control, without the hassles and uncertainty of temporary methods.
For women, tubal ligation (also known as "having your tubes tied") is a surgical method of permanent contraception. It is performed in a hospital, under general anesthesia. The surgeon cuts through the abdomen to reach the fallopian tubes, which are then sealed off to prevent pregnancy.
About 700,000 American women have tubal ligations each year, making it the most common form of birth control in the US*.
*Westhoff C, Davis A. Tubal Sterilization: focus on the U.S. experience. Fertil Steril. 2000;73(5):913-922.
Vasectomy
For men, vasectomy is a surgical method of permanent contraception. It can be performed in a doctor's office, with local anesthesia. The doctor makes an incision into the scrotum, and then seals or blocks the tube that carries sperm out of the testes. After a vasectomy, a man can still achieve orgasm and ejaculate, but there is no sperm in the fluid, so it cannot fertilize a woman's egg.
Adiana Permanent Contraception is a simple, safe procedure that works with your body to permanently prevent pregnancy. This Procedure requires no incisions and can be performed under local anesthesia, usually in less than 12 minutes.
There are four steps to the Adiana procedure:
Step 1: A slender, flexible instrument (delivery catheter) is passed through the body's natural openings (i.e., through the vagina and cervix and into the uterus) to deliver a low level of radiofrequency energy (i.e., energy that generates heat to create a superficial lesion) to a small section of each fallopian tube.
Step 2: A tiny, soft insert - about the size of a grain of rice - is placed in each of your fallopian tubes, right where the energy was applied.
Step 3: You must use another form of birth control over the next 3 months, while new tissue grows in and around the Adiana inserts, eventually blocking your fallopian tubes.
Step 4: At 3 months, a special test is performed (hysterosalpingogram or HSG) to confirm that your tubes are fully blocked. This test will ensure that the procedure has been successful.
