Ethics of Tubal Ligation - Part 2
Friday, July 11th, 2008
A recent discussion on the Tubal Reversal Blog was about the Ethics of Tubal Ligation. This was regarding a patient who had been sterilized when she was 24 years old and had no children. She changed her mind in her thirties and came to Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center for a reverse sterilization procedure. Her fallopian tubes had been electrocoagulated extensively and the reversal operation was a difficult one to perform, requiring tubal implantation into the uterine cavity.
One of today’s patients is a 26 year old who had a tubal ligation at age 22 and had never had children. The doctor who performed her tubal ligation first applied Falope rings to the tubes, then proceeded to burn them in several locations. In her case, tubal reversal was not possible at all. During her operation, I wondered why any doctor would perform such a destructive type of tubal ligation for a young woman with no children. The Falope ring alone would have been sufficient to prevent pregnancy, yet allow reversal at a later time if she changed her mind about having children. Fortunately, she has the option of treatment by IVF. Still, why would a doctor perform an operation that essentially destroyed the tubes in such a young woman when there are a variety of other less destructive procedures for performing a tubal ligation? Is this ethical medical treatment?
I am very interested in what others think about this issue. Please leave your comments!!
More about Tubal Ligation Ethics
Submitted by Gary S. Berger, M.D.
