“For the first time I feel safe, secure, and comfortable in my own body.”

Bailey, 33, USA

I’ve known I didn’t want kids since I was 10 years old.

I was 21 when I first voiced to a doctor that I wanted to be sterilized. The response was very “tut-tut lil’ lady, you couldn’t possibly know what you want, you’re too young”. It was pretty insulting.

I got a new doctor and she seemed more accepting, but when I asked her she had the gall to essentially ask, “what if you meet a man some day who wants to use your body for a baby?” I was so angry I walked out and changed doctors again.

The next doctor was willing to “compromise” with me and give me an IUD that lasted 5 years. It worked well for me, but was insanely painful to get implanted and no pain management was offered.

Finally, when the time came to remove the IUD, I found a doctor who treated me like a human being. She was the first doctor I’ve ever seen for anything that truly listened to me, took me seriously, and treated me like an adult capable of making her own decisions.

When I was 31, ten years after I first asked to be sterile, I was able to get a bilateral salpingectomy coupled with an endometrial ablation.

It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. For the first time I feel safe, secure, and comfortable in my own body. The peace these procedures have brought me is priceless.

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