Ask Aunt Lori - Tubal Ligation
Dear Aunt Lori,
I've had all the kids I want and I don't want anymore! I love being a mom, but I can't have a whole circus! I want to get my tubes tied, can you tell me more about it?
Enough Babies
Dear Enough Babies,
Like a vasectomy, a tubal ligation is a great form of permanent birth control.
The ovarian tubes are cut and blocked off, which prevents the egg from being released into the uterus and implanting. Tubal ligations seem to be more well known than vasectomies, despite them being more invasive and expensive.
Tubal ligations are performed by an OB/GYN under general anesthesia; the doctor cuts through several layers of tissue to insert the laparoscopic instruments into the abdominopelvic cavity. They blow up the abdomen with carbon dioxide in order to make it easier to see the organs. The doctor then cut, ties, blocks off, or completely removes the tubes (depending on the individual).
Because it has to be done under general anesthesia, it's often done at the same time as other surgeries. There are a lot more nerves, blood vessels, and tissues involved than a vasectomy. It carries the general risks with surgery: injury, infection, reaction to the general anesthesia, and more. It also takes longer to heal from than a vasectomy; recovery time is 1-3 weeks.
Rarely, the tubes regrow and the person becomes pregnant. This is highly unlikely, but has occurred. Ectopic pregnancy may also occur in cases where the sperm was able to fertilize the egg, but unable to implant in the uterus.
In some cases, people have been able to have a tubal ligation reversed. Success varies depending on multiple factors, but is generally considered less successful than reversing a vasectomy. I'm proof that it's possible (though difficult): my mother had me following a tubal reversal, but also had a lot of difficulties.
Though there's no legal age requirement or restrictions, many young people have an extremely hard time finding a doctor that will do a tubal ligation. Most places have some sort of criteria for who they'll perform a tubal on: over 25, married, has at least 3 kids, over 35, disabled, or something else. Patriarchal ideologies dominate most of the world and healthcare is no exception.
Most people are told, "you'll change your mind", "what if your husband wants kids", "you'll regret this", and other clichés to justify not performing the procedure. If someone with a uterus cannot be trusted to make the decision not to get pregnant, then why do people trust them to carry an entirely new person?
Thanks to the rise of the internet and social media and networking, people are sharing their experiences and the doctors who have trusted them to make their own decisions about their bodies. The most extensive one that I know of is the childfree subreddit, R/childfree. This has a lot of different resources for finding doctors to perform tubal ligations and other reproductive health issues. I personally know a few people who have found doctors using this subreddit and had a great experience.
This shouldn't be confused with "tubal litigation" - what the autocorrect on my tablet changed it to MULTIPLE times.
Aunt Lori
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