Childfree by Choice: Stigma in Medical Consultations for Voluntary Sterilization

Abstract

Nearly one half of women between the ages of 40 and 44 who do not have children are voluntarily childless, or “childfree” (Pew Research Center, 2015). Many childfree women (and men) request sterilization from medical providers (Richie, 2013). Childfree women and men who request sterilization face questioning about their nulliparous status, risk of regretting the procedure, and age (ACOG, 2017). Narrative accounts of medical interactions from Reddit’s /r/childfree were analyzed for evidence of experienced and anticipated stigma. Results indicated that clinicians’ mention of a patient’s age and the risk of regret during the sterilization counseling process were negatively predictive of procedural approval.

Keywords:

• childfree
• sterilization
• stigma
• patient–provider communication
• family planning

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Joshua Scacco, Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida, for offering methodological guidance and playing an instrumental role in developing this project, and Dr. Maria Venetis, Associate Professor at Purdue University, for providing feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.