How old do you have to be to get your tubes tied?
Policies and practices vary with individual providers and hospitals, and from place to place. The federal government, for example, will not fund sterilizations for anyone under 21. It even requires a 30-day waiting period for women who are older. Under some circumstances — if a woman is young, single, or childless — it may be hard to get a tubal sterilization.
Sterilization should be considered permanent and irreversible. Here are some of the reasons against considering sterilization that may be especially true for some younger women:
- You may want to have a child in the future.
- Your partner, friends, or family may be pressuring you. But it is you who must want the operation. You may want to involve others for advice or opinions, but the decision is ultimately yours.
- You may have problems that may be temporary — marriage or sexual problems, short-term mental or physical illnesses, financial worries, or being out of work. Sterilization should not be considered a solution for life's problems.
- You may not have considered possible changes in your life, such as divorce, remarriage, or death of children.
Today's young woman has a wide range of options for safe, effective, long-term reversible contraception. Sterilization may be a better option only in certain cases.
