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On the premiere of Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta last night, rapper and radio personality Yung Joc, now going as Joc, and fiancée Kendra Robinson, found themselves at odds over her insistence that he get a vasectomy to make the chances of them conceiving a child slim to none. As a woman who has made it clear that she doesn’t want to have children, it makes sense that she would want to take whatever necessary means to ensure that he wouldn’t impregnate her, and considering he already has eight children, she believes he’s had all the children he needs to have.
But on the opposite side of that, Joc is not ashamed. He believes that he is a good father to his many children, and while he’s accepted that Kendra doesn’t want children, he doesn’t want his testicles cut open and his vas deferens blocked because of a decision she’s made for herself. It is unclear if that’s because he is physically uncomfortable with what would be required for a procedure he is not set on getting, or if it’s because he truly doesn’t want to not be able to have children. Based on his comments during Monday’s premiere (“I don’t know if I want to be known as the guy who can’t have kids anymore”), and the clear discomfort shown at the doctor’s office, it’s likely a bit of both.
I could understand it though, especially since Kendra is going about encouraging him to get the procedure in a very pressure-filled, somewhat selfish way. When they went to the doctor’s office, she spoke for them, saying “we” want the vasectomy. And when he showed hesitation, she got upset.
“I feel like it’s selfish. If you really love me, if you really want to consider, my body, my mind and the longevity of our relationship, then you will at least put forth some effort,” she said in hr confessional. “I feel like he’s getting cold feet.”
But when he flipped the situation on her and asked why she won’t get her tubes tied instead, she wasn’t feeling that idea. Instead, she sort of insulted him, saying, “So you want to have child number nine and 10, so you can figure out to have time for those children like you’re trying to find time to have for the children you already have. I think that’s cruel.”
“I’m not trying to be irresponsible with my reproductive organs,” she added.
But why can’t she consider it if she’s the one who’s so passionate about the couple forgoing children? Maybe it’s because she’s not. The fact that early on in the episode she talked about how she forgot to take her birth control pill as though that were the straw that broke the camel’s back for him to get snipped doesn’t give the impression she’s prudent about the precautions necessary to avoid pregnancy.
And really, her stance on the situation makes one wonder if she really doesn’t want to have children, or she really, really just doesn’t want to have his children. (Or, maybe she wants to make sure he doesn’t have kids with anyone else?)
As a successful lawyer who said she’s often trying to tell him certain things to do and change for the advancement of them as a couple, it’s not the best look to have so much going for you and marry a man with eight children. She may be, by pushing him to be the one to have the surgical procedure, unknowingly punishing him for having so many children by so many women before her. So instead of her having her tubes tied, which can also be not 100 percent effective, she could feel like he created the inconvenient situation, so he should be the one to deal with it.
But Kendra knew he had all of those kids when she started dealing with him. Hell, we all knew he wasn’t a saint when he joined Love and Hip Hop Atlanta years ago before they started dating. So instead of trying to make him be someone different, including down there, she could just be more vigilant about her birth control, opt to look into sterilization for herself, or go find her someone who is on the same page whom she won’t have to pressure into going under the knife…or feel a tad embarrassed by.
Check out the reactions to Joc and Kendra’s situation via Twitter by hitting the flip:
