At A Personal Choice, 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. Monteith’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.
