Psychiatric aspects of voluntary sterilization in young, childless women

An increasing number of young, childless women currently seek tubal ligation for fertility control. They state that they have no maternal aspirations and that available contraceptive methods are not safe enough. This aspect of voluntary sterilization has received little attention by psychiatrists in the past. This paper presents a psychological picture of seven women with a particular focus on some psychodynamic considerations underlying their wish to remain childless and the role of the psychiatrist in the decision-making process for this procedure.