Is Tubal Ligation Regret A Big Problem?
At Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center, we receive requests 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for information about tubal ligation reversal. These requests come from women who regret having a tubal ligation. A staff member recently asked me how big a problem this is throughout the country. The following is in response to this question.
How Many Women Have Had A Tubal Ligation?
There is no single data source reporting the number of surgical sterilizations performed in the United States. Based on multiple sources of information, it is likely that 650,000 to 700,000 tubal sterilizations are performed each year, and more than 11 million American women have had a sterilization operation. The latest study, conducted in 2002 by the US Department of Health and Human Services, indicates that between one in four to one in five of adult, sexually active women have had a tubal ligation.(1)
How Common Is Tubal Ligation Regret?
Many factors can affect a woman’s likelihood to regret sterilization. Among women who had a tubal ligation, risk factors for regret include young age, less education, and a husband or partner who wanted the woman to have a tubal ligation.
In 1999, a study called the Collaborative Review of Sterilization (CREST) found that 20% of women who were sterilized before the age of 30 regretted their decision. Women who were sterilized at a young age had a higher chance of requesting information about reversal, regardless of their number of living children. Also, women who reported conflict with their husbands or partners before tubal sterilization were more than three times as likely to regret their decision and more than five times as likely to request a reversal than women who did not report such conflict. (2)
Dr. Berger’s Comment
This statistical information helps give a broader picture to the significance of the issues and comments raised in the previous blog topic – Ethics of Tubal Ligation. Additional comments on this issue are welcome from all readers.
References
- MMWR Surveillance Summary, “Contraceptive Use — United States and Territories, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002.
- Mosher WD, Martinez GM, Chandra A, Abma JC, Wilson SJ. Use of contraception and use of family planning services in the United States: 1982–2002. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, 2004. Advance Data from Vital and Health: no. 350.
August 10th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
[...] Tubal Ligation Side Effects: Regret [...]
May 13th, 2009 at 6:25 am
As soon as you feel comfortable- we have had patients become pregnant within two weeks of reversal.
May 12th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I need to know how soon after the reversal can we start trying.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
In the growing development of women’s fertility issues, there is a lot of information. It is important to the patient that this information is made available. Dr. Berger goes one step further and makes his studies on tubal reversal accessible and easy to understand. This informaton helps women make confident decisions and choices for themselves. Tubal ligation is a life changing decision that can not be made under stress or without information or options best suited to the needs of the woman, her family, and her situation. With the wealth of information on Dr. Berger’s website and blogs about women’s fertilty issues, tubal reversal is showing more and more women that a successful pregnancy can be realized.
December 31st, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Realizing that so many women do change their minds and desire more children after a tubal ligation, it is nice to have an expert like Dr. Berger who can make restoring fertility possible and a couple’s dream of more children a reality!
December 31st, 2007 at 8:55 am
It amazes me each day at the number of women who are thinking of tubal reversal. I wish that physicians who are performing the tubal ligations would be open to the fact that the patient may change their mind one day about having more children. Often, at the time of delivery, most women do not feel like they want anymore children. I think that women need to be given the chance to think about the decision to have their tubes tied prior to signing the consent forms. If not, it is my hope that physicians would not take the decision to change one’s mind away from the patient by chosing the most destructive form of tubal ligation. I am thankful that Dr. Berger’s dedication to tubal reversal surgery and his experience has given women their hope back of conceiving a child.