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Family Planning Center
healthy choices, healthy lives |
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It’s
important for BOTH MEN & WOMEN to know about, and be involved with, Family
Planning and Reproductive Health! Traditionally,
Family Planning and reproductive health services have been female focused. In
the past, this focus made sense since most family planning methods are female
dependant, and women are disproportionately affected by the negative
consequences of unintended pregnancy and STD's. However, since the onset of the
AIDS epidemic, reproductive health professionals have increasingly recognized
the important role supportive male partners can play in improving the use of
contraception to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and the spread of
STD's. Today a major focus of male reproductive health is on men's utilization
of condoms. We strongly encourage men to be educated, communicate about, and use
all Family Planning and reproductive health services to help protect
themselves and their partners. Healthy relationships need everyone involved. Take
a few minutes and read through the following 8 statements you may have heard
about young men and reproductive health. Make sure to read our comments about
them too. Some of these statements are MYTHS and need to be examined. 1.
Young men often lie about their sexual history. Some young men do
lie about their sexual history, but so do older men, and older and younger women
too. Some signs of a healthy relationship, whether sexually active or not, are:
communication, trust and commitment. Yes, that’s
true. If a young man has decided to be sexually active he should have access to
condoms. It’s even better if, with the access to condoms, there is access to
information about how to use them, and education about healthy relationships and
STD’s. 3.
Family planning will always be more important for a young woman than a young man
because she is the one who can get pregnant. Men and women both
have a lot to gain by knowing as much as possible about family planning. It’s
true that men cannot become pregnant, but they do feel emotional and relational
stress caused by unwanted pregnancy. STD’s don’t discriminate either;
education about how to avoid getting or spreading them is valuable to everyone. 4.
Many family planning and reproductive health care professionals are
uncomfortable counseling or providing services to young men. False. Most health care professionals are
glad to work with anyone who wants more education about family planning and
reproductive health. In any relationship, two informed partners are better than
one. 5.
Young men are uncomfortable going to a female-oriented health facility or being
treated by a female clinician. False. Facilities
like the Family Planning Center care for both men’s and women’s reproductive
health issues and the men who know this are very happy to use the services. The
costs are sometimes much lower (if not free) than those at a regular Doctor’s
office and the confidentiality/anonymity these facilities provide makes them
more appealing to both men and women. 6.
Sometimes young women send mixed messages to young men about sex which can
sometimes lead to forced sexual activity or rape. It is never okay to force yourself on someone, even if: they tease you,
you’ve paid for dinner, they lead you on, you’ve had sex with them before,
they are dressed proactively, they’re drunk or doing drugs. 7. Young men are a major part of the problem of unintended pregnancies. It takes both a man and a woman to create an unintended pregnancy. In
cases of rape or coercion it is possible to say that men are to blame, but in
most sexual relationships both partners share the responsibility to make
educated decisions about their sexual activity. 8.
Young men with STD's do not seek treatment and will often pass the disease to
their partners. 1 in every 4 Americans (male and female) has an STD, and as many as 80%
of these people DO NOT KNOW they have one. It is important for anyone who is
sexually active to know his/her partner’s history and be tested for STD’s
him/herself. Education on how to engage in “safe sex” using condoms is one
of the best ways to avoid STD’s if you are sexually active.
*Young
men can and do want to get involved in family planning and disease prevention.
Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention www.etr.org/recapp/theories/mip/index5.htm
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Support of this web
site is provided by March of Dimes and Family
Planning Center Number of more informed people (start 02/22/05)
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