Gettyimages.com/doctor appointment
When I hear women talk about getting their tubes tied, they can be very casual about it. One friend who has already had three children before the age of 30 has joked that, for her next birthday, she just wants to get her tubes tied—as if it’s something she could do after champagne and before her cake. When you hear that term “tubes tied,” it sounds like a doctor just wraps your fallopian tubes up into a neat little bow, that he can always untie later, should you decide you want children again. But having one’s tubes tied isn’t the light, relaxed procedure that it sounds like. A lot of women realize that only after letting their hopes get too high, taking a couple of hours to visit their doctor, and hearing it firsthand from their physician. We can save you some time and delusion: here are things women should know about getting their tubes tied.
Gettyimages.com/Nurse handing doctor surgeon operating room OR staff surgical tool assisting performing doing surgery surgical procedure in operating room theater sterile clean professional hospital environment as a group team together careful healthcare dressed in scrubs uniforms gowns precaution protection with patient in background
First, they aren’t tied
The fallopian tubes are not actually tied. The accurate term is tubal ligation. The tubes can be cut, clamped, or even burned. There are various methods the doctor may use, depending on what he believes is right for your body, but tying is not one of them. Typically either damaging or obstructing the tubes is the chosen method.
