Dr. Catherine Nam on shifting attitudes toward family planning following Dobbs

In this video, Catherine S. Nam, MD, shares implications for patients based on findings from the study, “Short-Term Changes in Vasectomy Consults and Procedures Following Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization.” Nam is a clinical andrology fellow at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and a recent graduate of the University of Michigan residency program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Video Transcript:

I think, in general, there has been increased awareness about vasectomy and people openly sharing their experiences with vasectomy, especially on social media. With the increased awareness, I believe there's going to be further conversations to be had in clinical settings to follow-up on some of their interests and to answer any of the follow-up questions that they have. There's also a great opportunity for refuting some of the misconceptions that we were touching on earlier in terms of its relationship to testosterone or other long-term consequences of vasectomy. With the Dobbs decision, there's also been shifting perceptions about family planning, where previously it has been seen as solely a woman's responsibility and now it's shifting to some of the male responsibility in terms of what can men do to share the burden in terms of getting a vasectomy. So, I think there's a lot of implications there.

Going back to the demographics that have been associated with increased interest in vasectomy and proceeding with vasectomy, it seems that there are more childless or single men who present for vasectomy than in prior years after this political decision. It could be an aftermath of that political decision of Dobbs. It could also be consistent with the general trend that many adults, especially millennials, may not want children. There have been some studies looking into that as well. It will be interesting to see how this plays out long-term in the changing political scheme, as well as the general trend of the current generation potentially having different thoughts in terms of wanting to have children or not in the future.

This transcription has been edited for clarity.