I became pregnant in 1995, as a young woman in California. I desperately wanted the baby, but the pregnancy was terribly difficult, and took an enormous toll on my health. I was on bed rest for several months, and went into preeclampsia, which was at risk for evolving into eclampsia.

While I was willing to try to take my first pregnancy to term, it was clear to everyone, including my doctor, that this pregnancy should be my one and only.

 

However, it was the policy of the hospital to require 48 hours notice to be sterilized at the same time as giving birth, and because my daughter was so early, I didn’t have 48 hours between the request for consent and the need to perform a C-section, so I was unable to be sterilized at that time. As it turned out, our daughter was born with serious disabilities, and my husband, under stress, began to develop health problems, which made it impossible for him to get a vasectomy. My own health problems became worse under the strain, and because of the lack of sterilization, and the fear of another, possibly fatal, pregnancy, it affected our sex life badly.

Eventually, I was able to be sterilized, but it would have improved my quality of life considerably had it happened when I was younger and healthier. I was not a child when I was 26 years old, and I had a very clear understanding of both the consequences and the benefits of sterilization. I should not have been denied this chance to protect my health. These waiting periods have consequences.