WOMEN’S BODIES: METHODS OF CONTRACEPTION. WITHDRAWAL
Withdrawal (also called coitus interruptus) means withdrawing the penis from the vagina immediately before ejaculation so that all the ejaculate is deposited outside. Its alternative names include ‘being careful’, looking after the wife’, ‘pulling lout’, ‘getting off at Redfern’ (if you live in NSW – if you live in other states substitute the station before your capital city terminus for ‘Redfern’) and no doubt many other indelicate colloquialisms. It’s claimed that withdrawal is the oldest method of contraception. It is referred to in the Talmud as ‘threshing inside and winnowing outside’ and is the only method of contraception mentioned in the Bible. Onan was instructed by his father Judah to sleep with his brother’s widow Tamar so that his brother may have descendants. But Onan, knowing that the children would not be his brother’s, chose let his semen spill on the ground whenever he had intercourse with Tamar, and for this he was slain by Jehovah (Genesis 38:4-10).
This has been interpreted as ‘the sin of Onan’. ‘Spilling the seed in coitus’ was condemned by St Augustine, St Hubert and
many later Christian teachers. However, the method became widely used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and is thought to be responsible for the trend to smaller families in Europe over that time. It is still popular in many Mediterranean countries, where the know-how is handed down from father to son.
How effective is withdrawal? Failure rates of 8 to 17 per hundred woman-years have been reported. It can be very effective if the man has good control and can withdraw in time, so that all the ejaculate is deposited well away from the entrance of the vagina. Some couples report using it from marriage to the menopause without a single unplanned pregnancy. Most failures are put down to faulty technique or inconsistent use.
Many people believe that withdrawal can’t work because there may be sperm in the pre-ejaculatory lubricating fluid. This seems to be very unlikely, though it is difficult to study, as you can imagine. However, several studies over the past 40 years have reported no sperm or insufficient for fertilisation in the pre-ejaculate.
It’s almost impossible to know how many couples are using withdrawal. A survey in England in 1949 found that about half of all couples studied used this method.
Advantages of withdrawal
• It is free, and you never run out of supplies.
• There are no adverse effects on health.
• It can be very effective for those who are good at it.
Disadvantages of withdrawal
• Some couples find that intercourse is unsatisfying without ejaculation in the vagina.
• It is forbidden by some religions.
• Women, who generally have the biggest stake in contraception, may be anxious during intercourse in case the man doesn’t withdraw in time.
Coitus interruptus is generally overlooked in discussions about contraception. It can be a very handy back-up or emergency method.
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