Voluntary sterilization as positive transformation among childless women
Ninane, Nora
Voluntary sterilization as positive transformation among childless women - 2022.
8
In 2018, the Gynecology Department of the University Hospital Saint-Pierre in Brussels, Belgium, opened a consultation for childfree women requesting contraceptive sterilization. Ever since, the number of these requests continues to increase. Using a semi-structured interview and the Dixit board game cards as a “floating object”, we met three childfree women who had been sterilized six to eighteen months earlier in order to explore the core motivations for their decision.The results highlighted the weight of singular historical events in a woman’s decision to embed their non-maternal identity in their body. It seems that these three women decided to undergo a contraceptive sterilization surgery at a point in their lives when they needed to act, not only to reclaim their bodies and their lives, but also to reestablish a sense of security after various painful and traumatic events.Delving into the experiences of these women revealed that sterilization is the result of a journey but also a process of transformation, moving from a place of suffering to contentedness. Once sterilized, they reported feeling physical and psychological relief and acknowledged a sense of renewal and a more aligned identity. Contraceptive sterilization appears to have had a therapeutic, restorative, liberating and well-being effect in the lives of these three women.
Voluntary sterilization as positive transformation among childless women - 2022.
8
In 2018, the Gynecology Department of the University Hospital Saint-Pierre in Brussels, Belgium, opened a consultation for childfree women requesting contraceptive sterilization. Ever since, the number of these requests continues to increase. Using a semi-structured interview and the Dixit board game cards as a “floating object”, we met three childfree women who had been sterilized six to eighteen months earlier in order to explore the core motivations for their decision.The results highlighted the weight of singular historical events in a woman’s decision to embed their non-maternal identity in their body. It seems that these three women decided to undergo a contraceptive sterilization surgery at a point in their lives when they needed to act, not only to reclaim their bodies and their lives, but also to reestablish a sense of security after various painful and traumatic events.Delving into the experiences of these women revealed that sterilization is the result of a journey but also a process of transformation, moving from a place of suffering to contentedness. Once sterilized, they reported feeling physical and psychological relief and acknowledged a sense of renewal and a more aligned identity. Contraceptive sterilization appears to have had a therapeutic, restorative, liberating and well-being effect in the lives of these three women.
Réseaux sociaux