Heather*, a 28-year-old from Ohio, spent four years searching for a doctor who would sterilize her.
Youll change your mind once your biological clock starts ticking.
Youll feel differently once you meet the right person.
Johanna Parkin/Getty Images
What if your future partner wants children?
They recommended long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) options, like anIUD, instead.
So Heather kept asking.
First, she wrote, she has no biological imperative to have kids.
She also hasPTSDfrom past traumas that could be significantlyexacerbated if she became pregnant.
To her surprise, this doctor agreed to sterilize her.
Heather had a successfultubal ligationthree months later.
It’s hard to know exactly how many women identify as child-free by choice (and for life).
Data from the2016 censusshows that 43.4 percent of American women ages 15 to 50 dont have children.
But that doesnt tell us how many of those women are child-free by choice.
Of course, not all child-free women choose sterilization as their form of birth control.
Nowakowski finally found an ob/gyn to sterilize her in 2016.
There are various reasons why someone might prefer sterilization to other, more accessible (and temporary) options.
Others eventually settle forbirth control optionsthat they arent actually satisfied with.
Ruby*, 31, started asking to be sterilized when she was 21.
The fear of getting pregnant was actually putting me off having sex, she tells SELF.
I continued to broach the matter several times with my doctors, but none would take me seriously.
Many treated me as if I was some abomination of nature for even having asked the question.
Ruby couldn’t find a doctor willing to sterilize her, and she eventually got an IUD instead.
Female sterilization is a surgical procedure to permanently prevent pregnancy.
There are actually two different types, according to theU.S.
Most tubal ligations areoutpatient procedures, performed laparoscopically under general anesthesia.
Complicationsare rare, but they can happen.
Tubal ligation is an incredibly effective method of permanent birth control, but it’s surprisingly not themosteffective one.
For context, condoms and the Pill are98 percentand99 percenteffective (respectively) when used correctly every single time.
They have a failure rate of0.15 percent, making them a little more effective than tubal ligations.
One of the main concerns is whether or not women understand just how permanent this is.
And sometimes women are not aware of other long-acting reversible methods.
Doctors are also concerned that patients will change their minds.
(The majority of patients who ask Dr. Minkin about sterilization are married.)
The women I spoke to express extreme frustration at being told they will change their minds about wanting children.
The1999 studysurveyed 11,232 women ages 18 to 44 who had tubal sterilizations between 1978 and 1987.
The researchers found that the cumulative probability of regret within 14 years of sterilization was 12.7 percent.
But its difficult to predict if a particular woman will change her mind.
Experts seem to be divided on this question.
But at what point is it justifiable for a physician to refuse to perform the surgery?
Medical organizations are taking a fresh look at how to approach this very issue.
A request for sterilization in a young woman without children should not automatically trigger a mental health consultation.
Ultimately, ACOG urges ob/gyns to respect their patients' wishes and reproductive autonomy.
[Theres] this dominant cultural norm that all women want to have children, Campo-Engelstein tells SELF.
We see this with ideas like the biological clock.
Implants and IUDs do require future and ongoing health care visits, they require replacement.
Women really feel the convenience of this method, she says.
I want to remind providers: [Informed] women do have good reasons.
Its hard to change physicians practices overnight, says Campo-Engelstein.
Campo-Engelstein recommends that women seeking sterilizations research relevant statements from health care organizations and bring them to their appointments.
Nevertheless, she cautions that women should be prepared to doctor-hop.
She also stresses that teaching health care providers about patient-centered contraceptive care can make a big difference.
That…requires a conscious effort and discussion.
As for women seeking sterilization, online resources and support groups continue to grow.
I feel in control of my own health and of my future for once, Anastasia says.
*Surname withheld at the request of the source.
