Female sterlisation - have you or someone you know had it and what do you think

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had my second darling baby son 8 weeks ago and am done. Don't want any more babies. I am 38 and am seriously thinking of female sterilsation although DH seems to be against it "incase something happens to DC" (by which I think he means if something happened to our babies he wants me to have another). I am not really thinking about that but am sure the two I have are all I want.

Any experience (personal or someone you know) of female sterilsation. I have no idea what is involved, pain involved, length of procedure, I assume it is available on demand but is this right? Are you (or the person you know) happy you did this etc

Thanks for any thoughts anyone can give me

I was sterilised by having clips put on my fallopian tubes. This is done with keyhole surgery, unless the patient is severely over weight. Just a tiny scar inside the navel.

After the surgery I felt incredibly sick because they fill you with gas to make it easier to operate. Other than that there were no complications and completely recovered within a week.

Thanks Lynli. Do you know whether they give you this "on demand"? Also how long ago did you have it (i.e. is it effective / reliable) and have you had any other side effects (after the gas/sickness) since? thanks for your reply

You wouldn't necessarily get it on demand, depends on your pct. They would probably recommend that you try the coil first.

In my case I was sterilised because I didn't get on well with the coil (hence DC3). Also, while pregnant with DC3 I was under the care of a consultant who arranged for the sterilisation. My GP told me that if he'd applied for me to be sterilised then it wouldn't have happened. Of course you can always go private if you want to. Might be worth trying the coil first. A private vasectomy for your dp would be cheaper.

BTW it's a day surgery operation and I was fine the next day. Glad it's been done as don't want another DC.

This is great, i want this but someone told me it took 6 months to recover and id be off work that long so stupidly havent looked it to it much further than that.
Can I ask those who have had it if your sex life changed? Libido I mean?

Doesn't affect anything really, still get periods and libido unaffected. Great not to have pregnancy worries though!

ok this is great news. I wonder what happens to ovulation if the eggs cannot get down the tube, but then the main thing is that they cannot so provided that happens I guess all is well. And I assume it is very reliable, i.e. the clips dont fall off (I assume it is not reversible and I wouldnt ever want to reverse it). thanks for your responses these really help

frog, i guess no pregnancy worries help the old sex life though. I can only imagine the joy of not being sick with terror for the few days preceeding every period in case it doesnt come!

Assuming Mr Surgeon did his job properly then it's a great form of contraception(the most reliable being "No" of course).

You still ovulate but the eggs get stuck at the clips and can't get through to the sperm. I think the eggs die and get cleared away by the cells that clear away other dead / dying cells. I did wonder if they sort of accumulated where they couldn't get through, like a egg traffic jam but I don't think they do.

OK this is good. In a strange kind of way I prefer something where everything carries on as normal in your body as much as possible, (and I would prefer to avoid all and any kind of hormone contraception for that reason) Frog thanks for your posts

Vanilla, I have been thinking recently about all the contraception pills Ive taken in my time, Id really like to stop now!

oops clicked to quick..

Thanks frog from me too

I spoke to my GP about wanting to get sterilised. It took about 6 months from referral to operation.

Before I went for the op, I was warned of the things that could happen like, perforated bowel during the operation (this apparently extremely rare in Northern Ireland here), but that was the biggest risk.

The only other thing I can think of is waking up feeling bloated and being told I was talking and grunting like Peppa Pig while I was out for the count.

At the end of the day, it's a day procedure which means you'll be in hospital for around 6-8hrs, although, they probably won't let you home unless you have a friend or someone to help you home.

I'm seriously considering this myself. There is a newer procedure called Adiana here which is available in some parts of the UK (Chelmsford, I think). This is supposed to have a faster recovery time but you have to go back after six months for a check and continue with contraception in the meantime.

I also looked into the cost of getting this done privately and I think Marie Stopes is approx £1500. Not sure if that's accurate still though.

I have two children - I can't possibly replace either child they are unique (as we all our)

i was sterilized about 5 years ago and I was told it wasn't 100 percent but for me it is a really good option as I don't want to add to my family or have any accidents.

I went into the day ward at 1pm and was home by 4.30pm - it was nil by mouth all morning so they were ready for me and I was first onthe list. An adult needed to pick me up and they gave me morphine to take home - I was fine within 2 days

It really is great my periods are two days and finished with and much lighter (not that they were heavey in the first place)tbh I am really glad i had it done and would do it just for the two day light periods

My PCT has just turned me down for sterilization. I am thinking of pleading that I am a special case because DH tried to have the snip and it went wrong and left him half done and in loads of pain. Or I might just pay to go private as I don't know if I can wait for the months and months it will take for them to still say no (probably).

how about a mirena coil??

statistically better than conventional sterilization surgery (would you believe it)

and lasts 5 years at a time...

and is fully reversible...

also, because of the progesterone, most women have very light periods or none at all, which is a benefit you don't get with sterilization.

Lots of people love telling horror stories about them going in, but its really not too bad, with some period type aches.... some GPs do them, or ask to be referred to a family planning clinic...

Or how about your DP getting sterilized!!!

ivykaty I'm concerned that at 44 (soon 45) they'll consider me too old for it to be worthwhile but it's such a attractive option.

I can't take any hormone type contraception (inc Mirena) and copper coil made my periods so painful I was taking four days off work per month.

I don't know why I don't just get this sorted...

this is very useful...

Hahaha at mirena - there are a few of us on here who got pg with that.

I am interested in sterilisation too. DH has had the snip, but has chronic pain which may only go away with a reversal. I would be interested in what the potential problems are and peoples experiences ...

No you will not be too old sureley as woman in their 50's can get pg - at least they will know your not gona want to reverse it - they seems concerned with that part.

Go for it it does make a difference to the periods

Sorry I did not reply to your question, didn't see it until today.

I waited three weeks from asking for the op to having it. It was nearly ten years ago and no problems.

I think it might have been fast tracked as I had been pregnant many times and miscarried. I had just given birth to baby boy so I wanted to quit on a high.