Tubal ligation: Difference between revisions
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Some regions have laws that make it so that a person has to be certain age before they are allowed to get a tubal ligation.{{Citation needed}} Tubal ligation is done by written informed consent from the patient, without needing a diagnosis of any health problem. | Some regions have laws that make it so that a person has to be certain age before they are allowed to get a tubal ligation.{{Citation needed}} Tubal ligation is done by written informed consent from the patient, without needing a diagnosis of any health problem. | ||
Anyone seeking sterilization will encounter sexist discrimination. Doctors, local laws, and health insurance companies put many more obstacles in the way of sterilization for people who they perceive as female, because of a widespread misconception that everyone who was born with a uterus will want to get pregnant someday. By comparison, doctors are much more willing and cooperative about giving the equivalent sterilization procedure to people who have testicles (a [[vasectomy]]). A doctor will only let a patient sign the consent forms for tubal ligation in the first place if the doctor is satisfied with how the patient answers a long series of intentionally offensive questions. Doctors intentionally try to lead people into giving the "wrong" answers, and then refuse to let the patient sign the consent forms. A survey found that male and female doctors are equally reluctant to let a "young" person (in their 20s or 30s) get a tubal ligation. Looking too youthful or whimsical can be enough for the doctor to decide you don't look like you can consider this decision, so dress maturely for this appointment.<ref name="misa">Misa, “How to get your tubes tied, even if you’re only 21.” ''Misa's Place'' (blog). Posted September 21, 2006. Accessed July 1, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130701000000*/http://misasplace.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-to-get-your-tubes-tied-even-if.html</ref> See [[sterilization]] for more details on what the doctor wants to hear. There is also racist discrimination involved: doctors make sterilization relatively | Anyone seeking sterilization will encounter sexist discrimination. Doctors, local laws, and health insurance companies put many more obstacles in the way of sterilization for people who they perceive as female, because of a widespread misconception that everyone who was born with a uterus will want to get pregnant someday. By comparison, doctors are much more willing and cooperative about giving the equivalent sterilization procedure to people who have testicles (a [[vasectomy]]). A doctor will only let a patient sign the consent forms for tubal ligation in the first place if the doctor is satisfied with how the patient answers a long series of intentionally offensive questions. Doctors intentionally try to lead people into giving the "wrong" answers, and then refuse to let the patient sign the consent forms. A survey found that male and female doctors are equally reluctant to let a "young" person (in their 20s or 30s) get a tubal ligation. Looking too youthful or whimsical can be enough for the doctor to decide you don't look like you can consider this decision, so dress maturely for this appointment.<ref name="misa">Misa, “How to get your tubes tied, even if you’re only 21.” ''Misa's Place'' (blog). Posted September 21, 2006. Accessed July 1, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130701000000*/http://misasplace.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-to-get-your-tubes-tied-even-if.html</ref> See [[sterilization]] for more details on what the doctor wants to hear. There is also racist discrimination involved: doctors make sterilization relatively easy to get for people of color, or even push it on people of color who don't want it, but make sterilization almost impossible to get for people who are white. The motivation behind this racist discrimination is eugenics. After signing these consent forms, the patient may be required to wait a certain number of days before being allowed to have surgery. The wait is to give the patient time to make sure it's what they really want. This is also sexist discrimination, because people seeking a [[vasectomy]] are not forced to wait.<ref name="planned parenthood" /><ref name="jezebel">Erin Gloria Ryan, “Getting your tubes tied is a giant pain in the ass.” Published July 9, 2012. ''Jezebel'' (magazine). http://jezebel.com/5924414/getting-your-tubes-tied-is-a-giant-pain-in-the-ass</ref><ref name="lowder">J. Lowder, “Sterilize me, please.” ''Slate'' (magazine). Posted July 9, 2012. Accessed May 4, 2012. http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/07/getting_your_tubes_tied_why_do_young_women_have_a_hard_time_getting_sterilized_.3.html</ref> Even after submitting the consent forms, the doctors usually continue to create obstacles, such as deciding that the consent forms need to be redone because the doctor didn't print their name below their signature, or canceling the surgery at the last minute because the patient didn't call to confirm that they still wanted it. | ||
A tubal ligation is done by a gynecologist, family medicine doctor, or general surgeon in a medical office, hospital, or clinic.<ref name="planned parenthood" /> Tubal ligation is done in one stage. Although many sources refer to it being done under local or regional anesthesia,<ref>Hatasaka HH, Sharp HT, Dowling DD, Teahon K, Peterson CM. Laparoscopic tubal ligation in a minimally invasive surgical unit under local anesthesia compared to a conventional operating room approach under general anesthesia. Journal of Laparoendoscopic & Advanced Surgical Techniques. 1997 Oct;7(5):295-9. doi: 10.1089/lap.1997.7.295. PMID: 9453874.</ref> typically it is done under general anesthesia. The patient goes home the same day. | A tubal ligation is done by a gynecologist, family medicine doctor, or general surgeon in a medical office, hospital, or clinic.<ref name="planned parenthood" /> Tubal ligation is done in one stage. Although many sources refer to it being done under local or regional anesthesia,<ref>Hatasaka HH, Sharp HT, Dowling DD, Teahon K, Peterson CM. Laparoscopic tubal ligation in a minimally invasive surgical unit under local anesthesia compared to a conventional operating room approach under general anesthesia. ''Journal of Laparoendoscopic & Advanced Surgical Techniques.'' 1997 Oct;7(5):295-9. doi: 10.1089/lap.1997.7.295. PMID: 9453874.</ref> typically it is done under general anesthesia. The patient goes home the same day. | ||
During laparoscopic surgery, the surgeons put carbon dioxide gas into the abdominal cavity. This is to lift organs apart so that the surgeon can see what they're doing as they work. This is called insufflation of the abdomen. After surgery, the person's belly will still temporarily look enlarged (distended). This is the only particularly uncomfortable part of tubal ligation. During recovery, the person may feel pain in their shoulders, because the distended abdomen puts pressure on the muscles inside the top of the abdomen (the diaphragm), and the nerves refer that sensation to the shoulders.<ref>"Diagnostic laparoscopy." ''MedLine Plus''. Accessed May 4, 2022. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003918.htm </ref> The gas slowly goes away by being absorbed into the body, so in a few days, the belly will no longer look distended. | During laparoscopic surgery, the surgeons put carbon dioxide gas into the abdominal cavity. This is to lift organs apart so that the surgeon can see what they're doing as they work. This is called insufflation of the abdomen. After surgery, the person's belly will still temporarily look enlarged (distended). This is the only particularly uncomfortable part of tubal ligation. During recovery, the person may feel pain in their shoulders, because the distended abdomen puts pressure on the muscles inside the top of the abdomen (the diaphragm), and the nerves refer that sensation to the shoulders.<ref>"Diagnostic laparoscopy." ''MedLine Plus''. Accessed May 4, 2022. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003918.htm </ref> The gas slowly goes away by being absorbed into the body, so in a few days, the belly will no longer look distended. | ||