vasectomies are on the rise and you'll never believe why

The global recession has sparked an unexpected trend: vascetomies are on the rise.

More 22,000 men have vasectomies in Australia each year, a number that has spiked due to economic uncertainty.

Couples believe they can't afford to have as many children as they like any more. It's way too expensive.

New research shows men are more likely to get a vasectomy during a recession due to the cost of raising a large family. A study in the US has shown the number of men getting the snip between 2005 and 2008 was less than after the global recession started to take affect in 2008.

The the International Federation of Fertility Societies and American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in Boston was told they believe this is a direct relation to families economic status.

Dr Grace Centola, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology in the US, told the conference: “There is much folklore associated with the relationship between economic conditions and reproduction. It is nice to have some actual data.”

There's no better time to measure the rate of vasectomies with the global recession continuing to impact families.

It certainly seems large families in Australia are a thing of the past and it's not just due to women waiting until later in life to begin having children.

In 2011 the average rate of children for Australian families is 2 (1.9) to be exact. And the cost of raising children has jumped 50 per cent to $800,000 for two children.

No wonder Aussie couples are capping the number of children they have.

I desperately would love to have a fourth child. I've always wanted four, just like my mum, but we simply can't afford it. Three are expensive enough.

My husband and I have a certain lifestyle we'd like to provide our children with and three is stretching our resources. Not to mention the fact that having a fourth means we'd immediately need a bigger car, and possibly a home with one more bedroom.

The effects of the global recession on families hasn't just impacted how often families eat out, it's affected the size of those families, and to me that's a shame.

Were finances a factor in deciding how many children you'd have?

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Vasectomies are on the rise and you'll never believe why

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