“And the children, when is it for? ”
This famous question,all women know it or have already heard it, observe The Morning Magazine. Among them, those who answer that they do not want children generally reap incomprehension”.
“It is assumed that everyone has a biological clock, which will eventually go off, observes psychologist and sexologist Ciska De Smedt, interviewed by the newspaper. To women who want children, we never ask why.
The Belgian newspaper weekly The morning devotes its front page this week to those who, convinced that they do not want or want more children, have decided to be sterilized – an operation which is most often done by ligation of the fallopian tubes.
“You never know when Prince Charming may arrive”
The Morning Magazine focuses more particularly on the case of the youngest patients, who sometimes have a hard time convincing their doctor that their decision is irremediable.
“For young women, we always opt for an IUD first, explains a gynecologist. It is a safer operation and the risk of pregnancy is even lower. If a woman under 35 and without children asked me for sterilization, I would refuse. You never know when Prince Charming may arrive.”
“Not sure that the desire for a child has much to do with the arrival of Prince Charming”, replica The Morning Magazine. Who notes that the number of sterilizations performed in Belgium has fallen from 1,534 in 2011 to 1,223 in 2018. “And this while not all women necessarily tolerate hormonal contraception well.”
The risk of regret
According to an American investigation, continues the article, “14% of women who have been sterilized then inquire about having the procedure reversed. Remorse would be four times more frequent among 18-24 year olds than among those over thirty”. This is the reason why many doctors do not want to risk it. “But is it fair? asks the newspaper. Should we refuse any sterilization operation on the grounds that there is a possibility that the patient will regret it?”
For the purposes of this article, The Morning Magazine interviewed several women who opted for sterilization and generally encountered many obstacles and refusals. One of them says that, when she finally found a gynecologist who agreed to operate on her, she had to settle for an interview with a psychologist. Condition which, in Belgium in any case, is not imposed on men who request a vasectomy – another method of contraception to which The morning recently dedicated the cover of one of its supplements.