Exploring Experiences with Sterilization among Nulliparous Women

Abstract

Although nulliparous women who are sterilized appear voluntarily “childfree,” the majority report non-contraceptive reasons for their surgical procedure. Using an analytical subsample of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, we examined 105 women’s closed- and open-ended responses about the reasons for their sterilization surgeries and whether their sterilization occurred before their childbearing desires were met. We found considerable heterogeneity in the experiences and attitudes of participants. We highlight important implications of women’s experiences for fertility and reproductive health research and practice, particularly by drawing a distinction between voluntarily childfree and involuntarily childless women.

Keywords:

• Sterilization
• reproduction
• regret
• childlessness
• childfree
• NSFB

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Author’s Note

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institutes of Health. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2017 Population Association of America annual conference in Chicago, IL.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health [R01-HD044144 and P20GM109097].