Tubal Sterilization (cont.)

Alternatives

If you feel you want a permanent solution to birth control, discuss your options with your health care provider.Many younger women who choose this procedure regret their decisions later.The younger the woman, the more likely she will regret choosing this permanent form of birth control.

Your doctor will discuss your current number of children, your plans for your future and family, and will want to talk with your spouse.This is an important decision.Women with certain medical conditions may not be suited for this procedure.

Tubal sterilization is surgery.Many couples, in looking at their birth control options, especially when they are ready to stop having children, weigh the benefits and risks of whether the woman would undergo tubal sterilization or the man a vasectomy.

Tubal ligation is not temporary.Do not think of it as a procedure to be reversed.When reversal is attempted, the operation becomes major surgery and is only successful about 50-80% of the time (meaning the woman is able to become pregnant after reversal).