In recognition of menâ€™s influence on family life decision and actions, and the familyrnplanning needs of men, family planning programs are encouraged to involve men. Torndetermine men and women factor that affect family planning utilization by the couples,rna cross sectional, community based study was conducted in six Rural Kebeles of Bodjirnworeda of western Ethiopia; Between Dec24,2003-Jan3, 2004. Systematic randomrnsampling was used to select the study subjects. A pre-tested questionnaire in Oromornlanguage was used to collect information from the couples. Similar questions werernposed to the couples simultaneously but at distance they couldnâ€™t hear each other. Arntotal of 365 married couples were included. Nearly 100% of them are Oromo andrnChristians, 96% are farmers, 79.1% of men and 63% of women had formal education.rnEighty-four percent of men and 86.3% of women have information about familyrnplanning, 82-% men and 89.6% women believe that family planning is important. Thernmajority, 90.6% of men approves contraceptive use by their wives, but only 70% ofrnwomen reported perceived approval by their husbands. Both bivariate and multivariaternanalysis has shown that, age of the couples ,knowledge of family planning methods byrnmen, men as advocate for contraceptive use, discussion about family planning,rnperceived approval by husband, women education, ,family size, are predictors of familyrnplanning use by women. On the other hand, husbandsâ€™ opposition was positivelyrnrelated to contraceptive use by women. The reason behind is not clear. In conclusion, inrnmarried couples, both women and men factors affect family planning service utilizationrnby the women. Therefore all programs targeted to promoting family planning have tornvirntarget both men and women, men should be considered as an important agent tornexpand family planning utilizationrnKey words: role of men, family planning, rural community