Female Sterilisation

[rockpaperscissorselephant]

Hello all,

I am a regular but name changed so as not to link this very personal post to my account.

I am 32. My husband and I have been together 15 years, married 7 and have a 4.5year old.

At 16 I was dead cert on wanting to be sterilised. Due to other medical conditions I have, I was told at 16 that I may not be able to have children and would need tests when the appropriate time came. I met my husband at 17. When things got serious, I told him my situation and he didn't mind and said if we couldnt have children, we would foster or adopt.

I had my son aged 27. He was planned, wanted and is loved. I suffered with terrible anxiety during my pregnancy and spent the latter trimester in and out of MAU. I had suffered with depression from approximately 19 and in hindsight also believe I suffered from PND which wasn't picked up by my GP.

We haven't had any unwanted pregnancies or scares in our relationship. We always said, even via adoption or otherwise, we only wanted 1 child.

Currently I am suffering some issues related to my gubbins and for a short time was concerned I may actually be pregnant. I am not.

We have discussed again and I have asked to be referred for sterilisation.

Whilst I know it's less invasive for him, and less change of failing (1 in 2,000 male sterilisation fails vs 1 in 200 female), in my own mind, rightly or wrongly, if I don't want to be pregnant, I will undergo the treatment.

My GP, knowing my history and my mental health history too has referred me without any qualms.

I suppose my question is, if you have undergone female sterilisation, did they remove your tubes, or just clamp?

What was your recovery time? Did you go back to work quickly, or driving?

Was it a day surgery?

I am reading all the facts and methods etc but it would be interesting to hear from people who have been through the procedure.

Rescues = reduces blame the GA for typos

I had mine clamped 17 years ago
(Aged 22) and recovered pretty well, driving the next day, and back to work within a week. The worst pain was feeling like I’d done a work out and the muscle ache, apparently it’s to do with the gas they use 🤷🏽‍♀️

I was clamped at 45. The op was easy and so was recovery. Unfortunately the procedure brought on early menopause confirmed by my consultant. Something to think about.

Sterilised at 36 here. Married and yes I was asked why was DH not having the snip. The conversation we had was if we were to ever split and meet new partners, what then...

My ‘what then’ was no matter what, no matter who I am with I am done having kids, I have been blessed with 2 but I don’t want any more.

His ‘what then’ was basically I don’t know, one way or the other.

So it made perfect sense for me to be sterilised. And looking back I don’t think I would have wanted it any other way. I found it incredibly empowering and still do.

Clamped at 38. No problems, spent the next day lounging around & then back to normal (SAHM then). Husband wasn’t asked what he thought. Didn’t cause any problems, regular periods until v recently & now typical peri menopause age. Definitely good for peace of mind. I wasn’t allowed to run for 4 weeks, which was a bit frustrating.

Mine were clamped. Two incisions.

The dr at hospital (from referral) told me I needed to have dp have a vasectomy, but given that I’m disabled and another pregnancy would make that even worse permanently, I explained my reasoning.
She then told me a mirena was more effective. Asked why in that case I’d fallen pregnant on it twice then- once resulting in my ds, the other time I had to have a termination (I knew before I peed on the stick because my disability was that much more pronounced) due to immediate physical effects.

I detailed my mental health struggles, that whilst another baby in an ideal world would be wonderful, for me it’s not physically an option and I don’t want to have another termination since last time I nearly ended my life.

The bitch still told me I didn’t meet criteria. I told her I wanted a second opinion.
Out she walks into the corridor where she has a conversation in front of other patients, naming me and detailing my conditions. The dr furiously had her go into a side room where the waiting room heard him berate her- I know all of this because dp was sat waiting for me- she came in all pissed off and said the consultant had signed off on it but she was going to see how she could put a stop to it.

End result- I got my sterilisation. But if I hadn’t remained strong in my position, I’d have walked out not knowing I could ask for an immediate second opinion.

Recovery realistically was a couple of weeks, but within a week I was back to almost completely doing what I had before. I’m so relieved it’s been done, I don’t regret a thing.

I was 30 at the time of mine by the way

Tubal ligation afaik! Done as a day case, and as I had 2 x 4 year olds, and a 10 year old, it was back to full time SAHM (one had SEN) the next day! The worst for me was the referred pain in my shoulder from the gas in the abdomen. I remember them asking me on the way to the theatre if I was sure - I said after 4 ERPCs, and a twin pregnancy I never wanted to get pregnant again! I have never regretted it for a second!

Thanks all for sharinf your experiences.

The GP has done my referral and I have to pick up my choose and book stuff.

@MrsPear My Mum had an ectopic when I was young so it's something I'm very aware of. Happy to continue to take the depo (it stops my periods) and pay if needs be.

I already suffer horrendous hot sweats etc due to other medical stuff

I had my op yesterday and thought it might be helpful for others to hear about my experience.

I’m 40 and have two children (boy and girl). I also fostered for many years, so I’ve had my share of looking after babies/kids!

I’ve tried about every form of contraception out there and nothing really worked for me. I don’t react well to hormonal contraception and the copper coil made me bleed very heavily for several months. Being aware of all of this, my GP asked if I’d considered sterilisation. I told her it would be my preferred option but I wasn’t sure I could be referred as the doctor at the family planning clinic had told me a few years ago that I wouldn’t be considered because it would be easier for my partner to have a vasectomy. My GP said she would happily refer me, and she did.

I waited a few weeks for my appointment at the hospital, where I went through my history and said I wanted to do this for me and would prefer to be sterilised so that even in future relationships, I would be covered. The consultant agreed that this was a good reason for choosing sterilisation and booked me in for surgery. This was around six weeks ago and, as I said, I had the op yesterday.

I felt ok after it, but was told that my heart stopped beating during the surgery. They stabilised me pretty quickly and I was obviously oblivious to the whole thing, but it was a bit scary to hear about it.

I went in at 8am, had my op around 10, was awake around 11.30, had a sandwich and toast for lunch and was allowed home at 2pm. I felt pretty sore in my diaphragm for the rest of the day, but was very tired and went to bed at 9pm so I slept through most of that part of it. I had been warned about shoulder pain but I didn’t have any at all.

Today I feel like I have bad period cramp and the wounds are a bit sore (one is right in my belly button, so hardly noticeable and the other is slightly higher than my c section scar - they would have made the incision on the scar but my womb position meant they couldn’t access it from there).

I notice the pain when it’s about time to take my next dose of painkillers, but generally I feel ok today. Just really tired. If this is the worst of it, then it’s been pretty straightforward and not too difficult at all.

I feel so relieved that I’ll never have to take the pill again!

Meant to say that I had clips put on my Fallopian tubes. Don’t know how to edit my previous post, sorry!

I was sterilised at 36 (40 now), I had the ligation.

The GP referred me without a problem but the doctor at the hospital tried to talk me out of it.
I'd taken my DP with me as I expected this and explained we both had teenagers and no way in the world would I consider another child.
I didn't want any more hormones or drugs pumping through my body either.

I had the op about a month later thanks to a cancellation. I had to stay in overnight as I had a reaction to the anaesthetic which wasn't pleasant. After that recovery was about 2-3 weeks.

Well worth it in my book. No pill, no panicking if you're late.

Periods have been heavier and sporadic since and I have some signs of early menopause which GP thinks could be caused by the op. So something to bear in mind.

Over a week on from my surgery and I am no longer on painkillers but the wounds are still sore when my clothes rub against them.

The first few days were the worst and although I have a high pain threshold generally I did find I needed all the pain killers they sent me home with.

I had mine done at 34. They didn't ask anything about my husband, but I was getting mine done because pregnancy damaged my body too much so I can't have more children (despite wanting them), and other methods are not possible for me. Day case, home from the hospital in about 8 hours, worst pain was the gas from the general anaesthetic.

All those who talk about early menopause and heavier periods it is not caused by the sterilisation but the fact that you are now in your natural state because periods on the pill are not periods they are withdrawal bleeds. Hope that makes sense! This was a consultant gynaecologists opinion.