Permanent Birth Control Is in Demand in the US—but Hard to Get

glamour.com:

Roe. Many of the patients have come to her after having been refused by other doctors. It’s a different manifestation of society not trusting women to know what they need, Harris says, and “probably related to the same distrust that leads to things like abortion bans.”For Kayla, who lives in Chicago, a traumatic experience when she gave birth prematurely to her daughter last year meant she is sure she never wants to have another child. “I can’t see myself going through that again,” she told her doctor.

When her physician suggested birth control, Kayla pleaded for something more permanent. “And she told me, ‘No, I’m too young … Maybe my daughter will want siblings.’” Since then, Kayla has visited at least three doctors requesting a tubal ligation, and all have refused, for similar reasons.The concept of the risk of regret is a significant barrier to access and is based on the subjective opinion that people who can become pregnant will always want to bear children.

In reality, this isn’t true. The largest study to look at rates of reported regret in sterilized women—the —followed 11,000 sterilized women for 14 years after having the procedure.