How doctors fail women who don't want children

An article from the New York Times points out what most of us already know: doctors are extremely biased when it comes to women exercising their choice to never have children. This article frames it for what it is, an unwarranted limitation on women's reproductive freedom:

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But when it comes to women who make an informed decision to ask for sterilization, everything from age, marital status and previous number of pregnancies to a hospital’s religious affiliation or a doctor’s personal beliefs can be used as a reason to deny care. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists makes these biases explicit in 2007: The procedure “may have important effects on individuals other than the patient,” such as the patient’s husband or partner (whose approval some doctors require). The unusual requirements some doctors impose — waiting periods, age restrictions and psychological evaluations — are similar to those that legislators opposed to abortion have enacted for women seeking to terminate their pregnancies.

There was a bit of advice for women seeking sterilization. The Reddit list of childfree-friendly doctors I already knew about, and there was this suggestion about how to prepare for the "interview":

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Dr. Julie Chor, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, has written about structural and institutional barriers to sterilization. She told me that physicians may have “their own personal set of rules as to who it is or is not appropriate to perform a sterilization on.” She also noted that the possibility of regret, in addition to whether or not a patient is a good candidate for surgery and is well informed about nonpermanent long-term contraceptive options, is also a large part of a doctor’s decision whether or not to sterilize a woman.

In my case, I was asked about LARCs and said I didn't see why I should have to be bothered with the waste of my time plus the repeated pain for something that was only good for five years, when I could have the problem resolved forever.

It's so obvious that it is bias and not facts that are involved. IVF has something like a 15% success rate, and it increases the risk of ovarian cancer in addition to causing a lot of stress, to the point that I expect many people who don't succeed wish they'd never done it...yet nobody is concerned about their regret, and using it as a reason to deny an entirely unnecessary vanity procedure!

Fuck doctors and their bias against CF women. Reproductive freedom should be enshrined in law. We even get this bullshit in European countries where there isn't an "abortion debate"; women are still cast as unable to make important decisions.

My gyno is great. I asked about sterilization, she just asked why I don't want kids, I said I just didn't, she said that it's not for everyone and explained the three procedures that were available (IUD, Essure, and one other I can't remember) and to get back to her when I'm ready to schedule the appointment. So when I can finally save up the funds, I'm going to get sterilized. I got lucky with my doctor, it seems. She sees me as an autonomous person who can make her own choices in life.

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"Why children take so long to grow? They eat and drink like pig and give nothing back. Must find way to accelerate process..."
- Dr. Yi Suchong, Bioshock

"Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born."
- Garrett Hardin

"I feel like there's a message involved here somehow, but then I couldn't stop laughing at all the plotholes, like the part when North Korea has food."
- Youtube commentor referring to a North Korean cartoon.

"Reality is a bitch when it slowly crawls out of your vagina and shits in your lap."
- Reddit comment

"Bitch wants a baby, so we're gonna fuck now. #bareback"
- Cambion

Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
- Miss Hannigan

20+ years ago I had a great gyno too. I was 40 and had bad periods. Actually she was a fertility specialist !! Anyhow, I straight out asked for a hysterectomy. Said dh and I had been married 18 years (at the time) and did not want kids. She said she understood and knew I wanted to be free of the pain and mess and scheduled the surgery as soon as she could (only waited 3 weeks after I initially asked) She did do a few tests and a biopsy first which rulled out any underlying issue. Best decision I ever made. Later, after talking with a few people, I realized just how lucky I was that she was so understanding about it.
I had actually been to another gyno before her and I asked for a hyst.. and he offered 2 other things and flat out refused to do they hyst unless my life was at stake. My uterus was so swollen from infection that when he was examining me he asked "are you sure you never had a baybee?"
Oh crap! I could not get my pants up and my butt out of that office fast enough.

Glad I am 60+ now and post menopausal. Would never want to be of child baring age again and be faced with all that crap.

Are some doctors reluctant to perform such services due to fear of future lawsuits?

And by that I mean, a patient coming back at a later date, claiming she changed her mind and the the physician did not properly disclose the very permanent nature of the procedure?

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StudioFiftyFour
Are some doctors reluctant to perform such services due to fear of future lawsuits?

And by that I mean, a patient coming back at a later date, claiming she changed her mind and the the physician did not properly disclose the very permanent nature of the procedure?

Seems unlikely, given what I said about IVF earlier. I think it is personal bias.

WhiteWolf had to wait until her mid-thirties to get a hysterectomy. She had really bad fibroids, heavy bleeding, and painful ovarian cysts. Still, all the doctors said "no". Why? Because baybee, naturally. After surgery, there were women who came to regret their decision and sued their doctors when they realized that they could not have children. One idiot told her doctor that she didn't know that having a hysterectomy meant no more children WTF??!! I guess she must have missed that lesson back in high school. What did she *think* happened if she had no uterus? Where would she carry the developing infant? What a maroon!

Anyhow, three or years later, she got a new Gynecologist and again, she asked for a hysterectomy. She was very pleasantly surprised when her new doctor said "Yes" almost immediately. WhiteWolf checked into the hospital, had her surgery, stayed over night, and then sent home the next morning.

If anything angers me, it is all the years that WhiteWolf has had to wait before finally being able to get her surgery. and all because some dizzy moos and wannabe moos couldn't decide if they wanted children or not!

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MerlynHerne
If anything angers me, it is all the years that WhiteWolf has had to wait before finally being able to get her surgery. and all because some dizzy moos and wannabe moos couldn't decide if they wanted children or not!

People who are incapable of understanding the meaning of 'permanent' are people who we'd probably rather didn't reproduce.

Definitely. I understand people having different levels of intellect, but if someone doesn't understand that no uterus plus no ovaries equals no baybee, they're in need of more help than I can give them.

Heh, even my father didn't understand. After my surgery I said that I still had ovaries and would feel a bit of discomfort as they 'did their thing' every month.' He said "Oh, you still have ovaries? Then you can still have a little baybeeeee"

WTF??

I said "Exactly where would it grow?"

I actually had to explain to my own father that just having ovaries that functioned did not mean that one could get inpig if one has no uterus.

I'll never forget what my GYN told my husband when I came to her office for my 2 week followup after surgery. She said to him "Just the baby pad is gone.. the playground is still there" LOL

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starlady
20+ years ago I had a great gyno too. I was 40 and had bad periods. Actually she was a fertility specialist !! Anyhow, I straight out asked for a hysterectomy. Said dh and I had been married 18 years (at the time) and did not want kids. She said she understood and knew I wanted to be free of the pain and mess and scheduled the surgery as soon as she could (only waited 3 weeks after I initially asked) She did do a few tests and a biopsy first which rulled out any underlying issue. Best decision I ever made. Later, after talking with a few people, I realized just how lucky I was that she was so understanding about it.
I had actually been to another gyno before her and I asked for a hyst.. and he offered 2 other things and flat out refused to do they hyst unless my life was at stake. My uterus was so swollen from infection that when he was examining me he asked "are you sure you never had a baybee?"
Oh crap! I could not get my pants up and my butt out of that office fast enough.

Glad I am 60+ now and post menopausal. Would never want to be of child baring age again and be faced with all that crap.

I got very lucky too with my gyno. He asked if I didn't want to get sterilized, I told him my insurance wouldn't cover. I told him I was also suffering hell periods. I told him I didn't want kids, and I doubted that I could bring forth a live one.

He asked "What about a hysterectomy?"

"Hell yes!"

He ran some blood tests, and they were nearly all yellow, a few reds and one or two greens. Medicare/Medicaid paid for the surgery.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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MerlynHerne
WhiteWolf had to wait until her mid-thirties to get a hysterectomy. She had really bad fibroids, heavy bleeding, and painful ovarian cysts. Still, all the doctors said "no". Why? Because baybee, naturally. After surgery, there were women who came to regret their decision and sued their doctors when they realized that they could not have children. One idiot told her doctor that she didn't know that having a hysterectomy meant no more children WTF??!! I guess she must have missed that lesson back in high school. What did she *think* happened if she had no uterus? Where would she carry the developing infant? What a maroon!

Anyhow, three or years later, she got a new Gynecologist and again, she asked for a hysterectomy. She was very pleasantly surprised when her new doctor said "Yes" almost immediately. WhiteWolf checked into the hospital, had her surgery, stayed over night, and then sent home the next morning.

If anything angers me, it is all the years that WhiteWolf has had to wait before finally being able to get her surgery. and all because some dizzy moos and wannabe moos couldn't decide if they wanted children or not!

WhiteWolf was very lucky to only have to spend the night. When I had my operation, I woke catatonic and stayed that way for a week. Fortunately, I had all but no pain in the surgical suite. The DeVinci bot was a wonderful piece of kit.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

I have a so-called endometriosis cyst on my right ovary and i agreed to go to surgery. I've already been on the waiting list for two months and i wonder if the delay is caused by the fact that i said i don't want kids. Well, the best thing is that i haven't been in pain anymore and i find it suspicious. Maybe it's the BC pills or maybe the cyst is gone?

What i found outrageous checking endometriosis forums is that some women were send to laparoscopy after they bitched about not getting knocked up fast enough. I've been complaining about bad periods most of my life and i was just shoved aside.

Also i feel really alone about this issue because it seems that most women with endometriosis want to get knocked up and they seek a treatment for infertility not for the actual disease. So, doctors also fail women who have health issues by not even taking them seriously unless they want kids. It feels like your well-being is not even taken into consideration which besides denying sterilization, the medical establishment gives a clear message: your body does not belong entirely to you. And that folks, i find really scary.