Study: Few Women Regret Sterilization

Few women have regrets about getting sterilized, according to a new study.

A study published in the June issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that few of the women who undergo tubal sterilization or whose husbands undergo vasectomy later go on to regret either procedure.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found the proportion of women who experience regret was essentially the same -- about 6 to 7 percent -- five years after their husbands' vasectomy or their own tubal sterilization.

The study also found that substantial conflict between a woman and her husband increases the risk of regret after either vasectomy or tubal sterilization.

"The finding also underscores the importance of the health care professional in providing thorough counseling for those considering sterilization as a means of family planning," said Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the NICHD.

The researchers studied data on 3,672 sterilized women and 525 other women whose husbands underwent vasectomy, all of whom were asked about regret at follow-up visits throughout the course of the study.

The researchers found that the chance of a woman experiencing regret within five years after her husband's vasectomy was only 6.1 percent, a figure which did not differ significantly from the 7.0 percent of women who, five years later, regretted tubal sterilization.

"It's reassuring that such large percentages of those who chose either vasectomy or tubal sterilization were satisfied with their decisions," said one of the paper's authors, Dr. Steven Kaufman, of NICHD's Contraception and Reproductive Health Branch.

Similarly, the researchers found that the overall probability of the woman requesting that the vasectomy be reversed was low -- 2.0 percent -- and statistically indistinguishable from the corresponding figure for women requesting reversal of tubal sterilization, which was 2.2 percent.