Sterilisation
Both men and women can have procedures to make them permanently unable to have children. Sterilisation is not used as a method of contraception for young people except in very special circumstances.
Sterilisation is more than 99.5% effective at preventing any future pregnancies, depending on the method used.
There are a few types of sterilisation procedures women can have and they all involve blocking the fallopian tubes so that sperm cannot travel up to meet the egg and start a pregnancy.
Male sterilisation is called vasectomy – it blocks sperm from getting into the ejaculate (cum).
Frequently asked questions
Anyone can get an STI, including HIV. All it takes is having unprotected sex once. It is important to know about STIs, even before you become sexually active. We want to make sure that we can all protect ourselves and our partners to reduce our chances of getting an STI. If you are having sex, using condoms correctly every time you have sex can help protect you from STIs.
What do we mean by unprotected sex?
‘Unprotected sex’ means any sex without a condom or contraception. The sex can be vaginal, anal (bum) or oral (penis/vagina in mouth).
Permanent methods