Ali K. has a guest post up at Shakesville about the doctor wall that childless women under the age of 30 run into when they request to be sterilized. The response from the doctor(s) is usually along the lines of “you’ll only regret it later” — and this is the line given whether or not the doctor knows the reasons or depth of research behind the patient’s decision.

Ali K did her research and found that the oft given doctor dialog has little evidence to back it up:

1. The most recent (2002) study I found said that only 7% off all women who were voluntarily sterilized experienced regret up to 5 years after their sterilization, comparable to the rate of women regretting their husband’s vasectomy.* And the greatest risk factor for regret (according to the abstract) was when the women reported conflict with their partners at the time of sterilization. Even so, the reversal rate (not just regret) for women topped out at 2.2%.

2. In a Journal of Reproductive Medicine study that broke down the results among age groups, women under 27 years had only a 2% higher rate of regret than older women. And, the part that made me particularly happy, “single women were more certain than mothers of their decision to be sterilized.”

3. A CDC study also found the same 2% difference between older and younger women, with the former having a regret rate of 2.4% and the latter having a regret rate of 4.3%.

4. The longest-running study I found (14 years versus 5 years) had the highest regret rates—20.3% for women under 30.

This last one is most likely the number (1 in 5! 1 in 5!!!! BOOGABOOGA!) that doctors will cite to young women like me, but even just looking at the abstract, 20% is not the end of the story:

For women aged 30 or younger at sterilization, the cumulative probability of regret decreased as time since the birth of the youngest child increased … and was lowest among women who had no previous births (6.3%).

I have considered sterilization in the past- based on having both a severe allergy to most hormonal birth control methods and a genetic condition I’d rather not pass along- and the one time I mentioned it to a medical authority (at a Planned Parenthood, no less), I received the “you’ll regret it” line. It was incredibly patronizing and a bit daft, considering that person knew both of my reasons  and considered them legitimate reproductive concerns in non-sterilization discussions.

A friend of mine whose wife- also in her 20s- had no problem seeking out such a procedure suggested that maybe it was a regional thing since I do live in the deep South. But I’ve heard of it happening to women across the country. And, as Ali K mentions, not everyone has the luxury of being able to afford doctor shopping to find a practitioner who will actually respect a choice you’d like to make about your body.