According to a study, 22.5% of men who had become pregnant in the past 5 years admit that the pregnancy was unintentional. Originally, there were both financial and couple problems.
Unintended pregnancies also exist in men! Indeed, according to an Inserm study published a few days ago, nearly a quarter of men declaring themselves to be the origin of a pregnancy over the past five years admit that this pregnancy was not intentional.
A figure which shows the need to empower men as much as women, according to the authors.
A study of 3,400 men aged 15 to 49
To understand this phenomenon, Anna Kagesten (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States), first author of this work, and her French colleagues interviewed 3,400 men aged 15 to 49, selected completely at random. The objective: to identify “their” factors associated with unwanted pregnancies.
The questions asked concerned the pregnancies they had caused and their fertility intentions at the time each pregnancy had occurred. The focus was then on the past five years, to try to identify factors associated with unintended pregnancies.
Young age or an unstable relationship
The results show that among heterosexual and sexually active men, 5% have experienced an episode of unwanted pregnancy in the past five years. And among all pregnancies reported during the same period, 22.5% were unintentional, that is to say unwanted or unplanned.
“Analysis of the factors associated with these events shows that they are not so much related to the person as to changes in the situation over time. An unplanned pregnancy can become desired when the context changes, ”explains Caroline Moreau.
Among these contextual factors, we find a degraded economic and financial situation of the man, the young age, an unstable relationship with the partner, the fact that the pregnancy interferes with the professional plans or the rank of the pregnancy. A third or fourth pregnancy, for example, is more often unwanted.
Importantly, this research has shown that the level of education did not, on the other hand, affect unwanted pregnancies in men. But also that the occurrence of an unwanted pregnancy during the studies does not shorten the duration of these, contrary to what is observed in women.
A contraception problem
Moreover, in the majority of cases, unwanted pregnancies by men are linked to improper use of contraception, or to a problem of its effectiveness.
In detail, in 72% of cases, contraception was used, often a condom (23%) or a pill taken by their partner (33%). “In an unstable relationship, the man often says that he thought his partner was taking contraception although he did not discuss it with her. Contraception must adapt to changes in circumstances. Given the fact that young men have no alternative to the condom as a means of contraception, they must feel empowered with regard to their fertility and that they discuss it with their partner, ”concludes Caroline Moreau.
.
