Father of 22 will have vasectomy

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 35

Father of 22 will have vasectomy

NZPA-AP Bangkok Thailand’s best-known proponent of big families, a man with seven wives and 22 children, has agreed to undergo a vasectomy. He was persuaded by the country’s number one promoter of family planning. Suphat Teerapabsakulwong, aged 41 a maker of pork balls, said that he had been urged for years by Mechai Viravaidya, gener-

ally regarded as the main person behind Thailand’s dramatic success in curbing population growth, to have the operation. Mr Suphat said he agreed to the operation after consultations with his wives, who range in age from 27 to 41. He has fathered 12 boys and 10 girls by six of his wives. He cited economic hardship as one reason for his decision to stop having

children. Mr Suphat said he now was waiting for Mr Mechai’s instructions on when and where the vasectomy would take place. He keeps his family under one roof and all help in the family business of making pork balls, which are eaten in noodle soup. At his home in nearby Nakhon Pathom Province, he claimed there was little conflict among

the wives. Thais can legally register only one wife, but other wives called “minor wives” are not forbidden. Mr Mechai’s efforts to convert Mr Suphat to family planning have received wide publicity and Mr Mechai hopes to use the vasectomy as another spur for other Thai males to give up the traditional quest for large families.