Doctors refuse to sterilise woman, 29, for being "too young"

NorwoodCemetery · 30/04/15 - 01:11

From what I can make out, the woman in question appears to be a Guardian contributor:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/28/why-wont-nhs-let-me-be-sterilised

Doctors essentially argue that she may well 'change her mind', appearing to have an ethical issue with sterilising a woman of that age.

I personally think that she knows her own mind. Give her what she wants, and if she changes her mind in later life... tough.

Thoughts?

EbonyHamster · 30/04/15 - 01:14

I'm with you and I hate all this you don't know your own mind bull shit!

Pumping Iron · 30/04/15 - 01:16

I have a friend in his 20s in a similar situation. Nobody on the NHS will give him a vasectomy, so he is having to do it privately.

francie · 30/04/15 - 01:21

Pumping Iron wrote: »

I have a friend in his 20s in a similar situation. Nobody on the NHS will give him a vasectomy, so he is having to do it privately.

Conjures up scissors at the ready, curtains drawn and telephone off the hook...

OP: agree with you.

Electra · 30/04/15 - 01:26

I'm in two minds about this. At 29 I knew I definitely didn't want children. At 31 I met the man I decided that I wanted to have children with. We have two.

bspace · 30/04/15 - 01:40

Pumping Iron wrote: »

I have a friend in his 20s in a similar situation. Nobody on the NHS will give him a vasectomy, so he is having to do it privately.

As long as he keeps the door shut good luck to him

Dangermoose · 30/04/15 - 01:57

It's her body, her choice. Though I do think unless it's for health reasons, she should pay to have it done privately.

Aneechik · 30/04/15 - 02:07

It's up to her, but lifestyle choices aren't really the domain of the NHS.

James Frederick · 30/04/15 - 02:21

I agree that if she wants it doing then pay for it private.

Unless it's for medical reasons i.e a baby will be born very disabled or it will put her life at risk it should not be done on the NHS

exlordlucan · 30/04/15 - 02:33

So she got the job done at age 26 then later changed her mind, sue the NHS for not taking her age and child bearing years into account.

Go private.

Madamfluff · 30/04/15 - 06:34

She says
Even if I suddenly reverse the opinion of a lifetime, I still have options. IVF can work after sterilisation

No doubt she would want the IVF done on the NHS once she changes her mind.

I am normally one of the first people to defend anyone against the nanny state and arrogant medics God knows I have had battles with GPs myself who think they know what's best for me (but that normally involves them WANTING to give me medication/procedures that I am not going to have)

Go Private

jarryhack · 30/04/15 - 06:41

I was sterilised at 29. I had two kids and knew I didn't want anymore. I had to go to counselling of sorts but there were no hassles. She knows her own mind, if she doesn't want kids she doesn't want kids.

pope_tart · 30/04/15 - 07:12

Madamfluff wrote: »

Go Private

and what if you can't afford private?

I was in the same situation at 29. I was a student at the time and skint...couldn't afford to pay for the op myself and definitely couldn't afford to keep a child, neither did I ever want to have one.

Had to come off the pill as it was making me very ill after being on it so long, coil was also unsuitable. I had a few accidents with condoms breaking or coming off so I asked to be sterilised.....apparently I was also too young to make a decision >:(

two years later, I had my sterilisation op, had it the same time as my abortion. A much nastier and costlier operation than a simple sterilisation would have been in the first place. It involved stomach surgery similar to having a Caesarian and it took weeks to recover.

I still had to fight to get the op and the doctors and nurses were incredibly patronising..they really found it hard to believe a woman wouldn't want to have children and I was treated like a freak throughout the process.

I was in hospital with a 26 year old woman pregnant with her fourth child who also had wanted to be sterilised after two and was refused due to her age.....I wonder how many kids she ended up with before they gave her the op?>:(

I have never regretted my decision...and have probably saved the government more money by not having kids than it would have cost the NHS to have given me the simple sterilisation I asked for in the first place.

29 is old enough to know your own mind and anyone who wants to be sterilised should be allowed the op.....and told if they change their mind later, well tough sh*t, pay your own way to try and get a reversal, or just live with the decision.

DaisyBill · 30/04/15 - 07:19

This happens all the time. I'm not sure why it's news.

soulboy77 · 30/04/15 - 07:30

Quite a few friends have said in the past that they don't want children but all have changed their mind in their 30s. i can understand wanting to be sterilised if you have already had a couple of kids but who really knows how they will feel in a couple of years time let only 5 or 10 years.

I'm also of the opinion that unless there is an underlying medical reason to be sterilised then people should have this done privately and not free on the NHS.

gregrichards · 30/04/15 - 07:51

NorwoodCemetery wrote: »

From what I can make out, the woman in question appears to be a Guardian contributor:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/28/why-wont-nhs-let-me-be-sterilised

Doctors essentially argue that she may well 'change her mind', appearing to have an ethical issue with sterilising a woman of that age.

I personally think that she knows her own mind. Give her what she wants, and if she changes her mind in later life... tough.

Thoughts?

It's a tough one this. On the one hand you can decide to put your life on the line to fight for your country at 16/18 but this lady can't be sterilised at 29 because she doesn't know her own mind? She could be sterilised and change her mind though in her thirties. I don't think the op should be done on the NHS unless getting pregnant would be dangerous. £1500 for a private op seems very cheap compared to the bills BUPA have received for my operations of nearly six figures.

For my private operations I have had to get a GP referral first to get an appointment to see a consultant. So she still might have a problem going private if she still doesn't get a GP referral.

Hugh Jboobs · 30/04/15 - 08:01

DaisyBill wrote: »

This happens all the time. I'm not sure why it's news.

I don't think it's "news" as such. More just some whingeing bint's opinion that has been published in an awful rag of a newspaper.

Maxatoria · 30/04/15 - 08:03

Isn't there an operation where they clamp the tubes so theres no chance of pregnancy but if you suddenly decide that rug rats are a go go you just have a small op to remove the clamps?

plus theres always the Jeremy Kyle of popping a little something on the end of it so its not all down to her to sort out as if she finds the right man she could always get him to get his tubes tied as a test of loyalty

cdtaylor_nats · 30/04/15 - 08:04

Isn't part of the Hippocratic oath "first do no harm".

pope_tart · 30/04/15 - 08:09

soulboy77 wrote: »

I'm also of the opinion that unless there is an underlying medical reason to be sterilised then people should have this done privately and not free on the NHS.

I don't get the logic here. Surely each unwanted child born is more of a drain on society's taxes than providing a relatively cheap operation to prevent one

CravenHaven · 30/04/15 - 08:15

There's always The Cork.

zx50 · 30/04/15 - 08:16

I hope she's thought this through very carefully before deciding that she doesn't want children and wants a procedure done to make sure she can't have any. Unless she has a condition that she doesn't want to pass on perhaps.

Stormwave UK · 30/04/15 - 08:19

The "know your own mind" argument is ridiculous. Can anyone here honestly say they hold the same opinion on specific topics that they did even a year earlier? People change their minds all the time as situations change. You should not make potential life long decisions that can not be reversed for virtually no reason at all. If it was health based fair enough, if it's just because you don't want to use contraception then that's just ridiculous.

EbonyHamster · 30/04/15 - 08:22

pope_tart wrote: »

and what if you can't afford private?

Then don't have sex

pope_tart · 30/04/15 - 08:27

EbonyHamster wrote: »

Then don't have sex

well that's the problem solved then

EbonyHamster · 30/04/15 - 08:28

pope_tart wrote: »

well that's the problem solved then

Pleased I helped

Hey there!

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Doctors refuse to sterilise woman, 29, for being "too young"

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