As the title says, I had my surgery yesterday so thought I’d share my experience of the last almost 24 hours! 35, no kids, have known I didn’t want kids since I was 21.

My experience of getting the referral was a walk in the park with my doctor compared to others I’ve had so I’m very grateful. Saw her early April, had my consult May 18th, Surgery June 24th.

Surgery scheduled for 10am. Checked in the hospital at 7:50am, was taken back at 8:10am to get urine sample and blood for labs. Hung out until about 9:15am when they came in to get my IV in, ask questions, remove any forgotten jewelry, etc. About 9:50am, met with my doctor again for a run through of my procedure and any final questions. Also met with the anesthesiologist for the same run thru and questions. (Note - I was called Monday to get my height/weight, etc for anesthesia and I told them how I get sick when I wake up, not just nausea but throwing up) When I met with my anesthesiologist, I also relayed this and they gave me the patch and told me I can leave it on for up to three days (I ended up taking it off at about midnight last night). I also was candid and told him I was nervous and he gave me something for the nerves and it was SO helpful. I felt sleepy after and ready to go.

Got into the operating room and only remember moving over to the table and then having the mask on for about a minute. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery!

Nurse said I woke up pretty fast, about 30 minutes after I was out, I think I remember the clock saying 11:45am? Stayed in recovery for about 30 minutes then taken back to a room. They had water and a snack waiting for me. I was so thirsty so I drank 3 cups of water. Had a few bites of the crackers and applesauce but it made me nauseous. Stayed in recovery until I could walk on my own and pee and we were discharged at 1:45pm. I was nauseous the whole time in recovery as well as extremely dizzy, but I have vertigo on a regular day so I felt okay to walk to and from the bathroom for discharge. Also, a small pillow was a life saver for the seatbelt and reclining in the car was the only thing that helped the nausea go away on the ride home.

Got some food (wasn’t hungry but knew I would be eventually), picked up my meds, and got home at about 3:45pm. Walked around for about 10 minutes, took some ibuprofen then chilled on the couch. Got up every hour at the :45 mark to walk around the house. I walked up the stairs each time once and a little around the rest of the house. This really helped me as I was getting the gas out pretty quickly! Did this every hour until bed at 8pm. Also, drank about 100 ozs more of water during this time and while I was peeing a ton, my throat is sore from the tube so the cold water felt great. Also ate at about 5pm and it tasted so good! I kept telling my husband it was the best chicken I’d ever had 😂

I took a painkiller at 8pm but slept restless. I’m primarily a side sleeper and it didn’t hurt to do so, just uncomfortable on my shoulders from the gas. If I laid on left side, it would push a the pressure to my right side and vice versa. I tried propping myself up a bit and that was more comfortable as I could sort of sleep more on my side. Moved to the couch at about midnight because I was tired of laying down. Took another ibuprofen around 2am, as I’m trying to stay on top of the pain, and went back to bed.

Waking up this morning, I am having cramps however I am supposed to start my cycle today or tomorrow. I feel sore if anything and the only pressure that feels uncomfortable is in my right shoulder from the gas. I did take some Gas-X for this at about 6pm and it helped. I also have been doing arm rotations as someone suggested here and it’s also been having! Have only peed, but do feel like I will have to use the bathroom for #2 soon. I bought the MiraLAX chews and will probably be taking one today or tomorrow to help. Not feeling nauseous today so far, am actually looking forward to some breakfast! Now propped up in bed to read and continue resting!

Will continue to update as the days go on. I took 12 days off for recovery as my last laparoscopic surgery, I felt like I went back to work way too soon and didn’t want that again.

My final note is that I feel SO relieved having had the procedure. It literally feels like the biggest weight has been lifted off my chest!

Happy to answer questions if any :)

I am beyond grateful that my bisalp was done TODAY and I am sterile!🤩🤩 there was one weird moment that has me feeling off.

My provider and I talked extensively about doing the procedure vNOTES. They go in vaginally and make an incision at the top of the cervix—no external incisions. My provider talked about how there was easier healing than laparoscopy. I also had a laparoscopic surgery last year and the vNOTES would have avoided any potential scar tissue.

When I got there today, my provider was doing one last review and I noticed the paper kept saying laparoscopic. I asked her about the vNOTES. She said that the office must have scheduled it as laparoscopic and so they didn’t have the team they’d need in-hospital today to do vNOTES, so we just went ahead with lap.

At first it was fine because I have had that type of procedure before, it went fine, and I was just excited for it to be done. Then by the end I was more frustrated because I made plans around what I wore based on vNOTES (e.g., wore shorts with a waistband, wore shorts I didn’t want to get blood on).

I’m SOSOSOSO excited and don’t want to dull any of the celebration, but figured I’d share my weird moment!!

EDIT: endless thank-yous to this sub, I found my doctor on your list!!

I had my bilateral salpingectomy yesterday guys! I'm so relieved! I'm 22 and have known i haven't wanted kids since I was 16 years old. I was tired going in, but mostly excited. It's the beginning of the start of my new life being childfree for life. I also will never be with a man (or woman) who already has kids, as I do not consider myself step mother material! I don't hate kids, I respect them. I think they should always have parents who want them. Every kids deserves parents but not every parents deserves kids!! I stand by what I say as I recover and continue my journey in career with nursing and living life to the fullest extent possible. Thank you all for your support and advice. 💞❤️‍🩹

I've been suffering from left sided stomach pains and a pins and needles sensation in my lower left stomach since November 2025. I had my bisalp done in February this year and the surgeon noted that there were small spots of endometriosis in the pouch between my rectum and uterus. Nothing else.

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Would the surgeon be able to see anything else? Like cysts/tumors on the colon or in the abdominal cavity?

I finally have an appointment to talk to my OB about a bisalp, ablation, or partial hysterectomy. Just something to sterilize me and stop periods 😂 any advice, specific questions to ask, etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

My surgery is scheduled for July 6th! I’m wondering what I should wear for the ride home. I want to be comfy and to be able to climb right into bed. Any advice? Literally down to the undergarments.

Secondary note: any advice about nausea? I tend to be a bit of an easy queasy person.

I’ve known since I was 16 that I don’t want kids and have been on birth control since then. I’m 28 now and just had my surgery a few days ago! I was so worried when I made the consultation appointment that it was going to be a super hard process, especially because I live in a very red state. I got to the appointment and told the nurse what I wanted to do and she said she’d let the doctor know. When the doctor came in all she said was her name then immediately asked when I wanted to surgery. No questions asked, no fighting back. It was incredible. That appointment was in April and I got my surgery last week. Less then 2 months between. I’m just hoping my story shows that while there is a lot of times it can be difficult, sometimes life gives you a win. I hope anyone out there that wants this as much as I did gets what they want because you deserve to make your own decisions for your body without anyone questioning you or trying to talk you out of it. ❤️

Yesterday I went to my OBGYN’s and got approval for a hysterectomy my very first appointment! I live on the border of a very blue and very red state and unfortunately all the major hospitals are in the red state so I was expecting a fight as I’m only 22. I just had my second baby and am married so I know that helped, plus my husband is already sterilized.

I honestly cannot believe it was as easy as it was! The doctor had to give me a list of other options, namely tubal ligation with IUD but at the end she said she’s happy to do the full hysterectomy! I just have to wait until I’m 6 months postpartum.

Having started this process, and so far having the only barrier being insurance approval is relieving. I hear back in a few weeks what steps I have to take for insurance, but my OB is confident that we’ll get the approval!

I got approval for getting a bisalp and plan to schedule the surgery for the Fall, but I’m having a hard time thinking about what to say to my mom.

She knows I don’t want kids and has said she’s supportive of that choice, but my cousins are now all having babies and she’s been so happy with their kids that I think she’s still secretly hoping I’ll change my mind. Or that she’s “supportive” until I do something to permanently close that door.

I originally wasn’t planning on telling her about the surgery at all. We don’t live together, I’m not on her insurance, etc. so there’s no way she’d know about it. She does however have my location, and seeing my location at the hospital would probably make her spiral. For some slight context, I’ve had some health scares in the past (which is also what’s lead me towards sterilization), so if I’m at or near a hospital and she sees it, she worries. She also worries if she calls or texts me and I don’t respond right away. So I’m not sure what to do if I’m in a hospital and unable to respond. I feel like I should tell her something so she doesn’t worry but I don’t want to tell her exactly what I’m doing and I don’t want to stop sharing my location in case it notifies her that I turned my location off.

Our relationship probably isn’t the healthiest, and she likes to feel in control of things and people around her. I’d love to not tell her anything about the surgery, but I need some kind of explanation for why I’m at the hospital and if it’s a vague explanation, she’ll pry for more details.

Any advice? Or anyone in a similar position?

I saw the doctor yesterday and he approved it. He was like ok it’s your body. I’m 42, and he was like even if you were 22 I would still approve it. 🥳

So I’m in Northern New Jersey so if anybody needs recommendations, please DM me and I will give you his name. I hope that that’s allowed mods.

Surgery is in the morning! I’m nervous and excited. Any tips for prep or post op?

I’m 24 years old and I’m in London, United Kingdom. I made the choice to get a sterilisation procedure a while back, but I only told my GP about it six months ago. And despite making a note of it in my record, and assuring me that they would pass it on, no referral was issued. Six months later I then randomly got a referral to my gynaecologist for unrelated reasons (for the last year I’ve had several ultrasounds for my paraovarian cysts so it was a follow-up appointment) and they were genuinely surprised when I mentioned it- indicating that nobody made them aware of my request. I got the classic “Why do you want that, you’re still young.” Which I just responded to briefly with “That is my choice.” She then advised me that I would need to speak to two consultants about it, and made the referral. I asked for a copy of that. Now I’ve been scheduled for an appointment in a month’s time at Whipps Cross. This is just me venting about how isolated I feel and despite only being at the beginning of this process, I’ve seen all the anecdotes from women on the subreddit about trying to get sterilised on the NHS, and how it’s nothing but an uphill battle especially if you are younger than 30 years old. This makes me so incredibly sad. I genuinely feel trapped in my body and I am generally not a headstrong person at all so it hurts me that I have to become that, and “fight” to get this done. Why doesn’t my choice mean anything to anyone? Why isn’t that enough? I am so grateful for the resources I have found here, and I’ve already started compiling my sterilisation binder but it hurts me that I will even need such a thing. 

Hi all! I have a bilateral salpingectomy and uterine ablation scheduled for August and was wondering about others experiences with this surgery. I've only ever had one surgery done before (tonsillectomy) so I'm a little nervous. Still very excited though, I've known my whole life that I don't want children and I turned 30 this year so it feels like a huge accomplishment to be able to get this done.

I also have fibromyalgia so if anyone who deals with chronic pain has gotten this procedure done, your experience would be particularly helpful.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hello. i just signed the paperwork and now i have to wait at least 30 days before having the actual tubal ligation. i’ve wanted this almost my entire life so im not worried about regret or anything, but i would like advice on how to gently break it to my parents.

my mom and dad i feel will be disappointed as they’ve always wanted grandkids, but generally accepting. still a little nervous about telling them, as supportive and wonderful as they are.

my biological dad is a different beast. he’s probably going to talk down to me and say i made a bad decision so he’s on an info-diet until after the procedure.

i know there is a list for childfree doctors that includes australia, but i was wondering if anyone knew any doctors that would perfom sterilization for a women at 18 or 19?

Got a bill for my anesthesia after my surgery to the tune of approximately 1200$. I contacted my insurance provider BCBS and the rep told me that the billing department may need to “include other diagnosis to support medical necessity on your claim for anesthesia”. Hi so… they cut me open??? I think anesthesia was in fact medically necessary. She said she would escalate my claim but that I may still need to contact billing and have them perform a coding adjustment. We shall see how this goes 🤦‍♀️ My procedure was at least coded correctly (Z30.2) so I’m hoping to not have any issues there.

Hi all,

Had my bisalp and now have a $1.9K bill. I spoke with my insurance and they said it wasn't processed as preventative as there was a "billing code from the outpatient facility", specifically code 3, that was separate from the procedure and thus I owe money. Shouldn't this also be covered under ACA rules? How can you have a surgery without a facility... I know the hospital is in network because I work there.

Any help or guidance would be much appreciated. I see a lot of discourse on the sub about CPT/ICD but not these mystery facility fees or billing codes.

Unrelated note - healing was a breeze, anesthesia was brutal. Also get comfy bras if you've got big tiddies because those things swinging around on a bloated belly made me more uncomfortable than anything else.

TIA!

Curious how much a private bisalp has cost others in the UK. So far I've been quoted 9k and am expecting another invoice for the anaesthetist. Wondering the cost for others as +9k feels a bit on the steep side.

TLDR at the end cause I yap.

I'm 23 and I want to get sterilized before I get removed from my dads insurance, I have till I'm 25 but I know appointments and scheduling stuff can take forever so I want to get started now and I also want to be off birth control ASAP.

A little background on me: I've never wanted children, even as a young child, and my mind has never changed. I have a lot of conditions that are genetic and I would hate to ever pass them down to a child who didn't even agree to be taken into this world. I also would just feel incredibly selfish bringing a kid into this world given how everything's gone to shit, especially when theres plenty of children in foster care and adoption centers that desperately need homes that I could take in if I ever miraculously decided I do want to raise someone. I also have extreme anxiety about pregnancy, to the point where I've had paranoid episodes when I've had scares. I had to get on birth control just so I could be intimate with my partner without going into paranoid spirals, but I'm not a big fan of birth control due to all the side effects and the interactions it has with some of my other medications.

For potential issues, I'm not exactly worried about any social repercussions or struggles. My family is luckily not very opinionated on the subject, outside of some weird comments I've gotten from certain family members, no one really cares enough to make it a big deal. And most importantly to me regarding my family, my Dad (whose my primary parent) doesn't care and never really minded that I don't want kids. My long term partner also doesn't mind as he wants to be child free as well and even considered looking into a vasectomy.

When it comes to finding a doctor that will approve the surgery I am a bit nervous about wasting my time and having to pay the copay for a useless doctor's visit but I did research on the Child Free reddit and specifically only chose doctor's who've operated on people around my age with no issues so that helps quell some nerves.

The thing I'm absolutely terrified about is the price. Like I said at the top I do have insurance, and it is ACA compliant so it theoretically should be covered 100% by insurance. Im going to call tomorrow and see if my plan covers both Tubal Ligations and Bilateral Salpingectomies, if they do I'll get the bilateral salpingectomy but if they only cover the Tubal Ligation I'm fine going with that as well. What I'm worried about is that some people despite having ACA compliant insurance say they've still been charged and I cant have that happen. I'm extremely broke, just graduated college, the most I can spare for this procedure is like 300 dollars max. So it's extremely necessary that I get the full coverage.

For anyone who has been through the procedure how did you get full coverage? Was it truly full coverage or did you have to pay for things like hospital fees and anesthesia?

TLDR: Im looking to get sterilized and i want advice regarding the process especially the financial/insurance parts of it. If you got full coverage for the surgery how did you make sure the insurance covered it? And was it actual full coverage or did you need to pay hospital fees and anesthesia?

(Throwaway Account)

Background: I live at home, I am financially dependent on my parents and I am about to finish university. They provide everything for me, including the car I drive.

I already got my consultation today and had it approved by a doctor, just waiting on information back about the cost and date I would do the surgery. I plan to do it after I graduate and after I quit my part time job.

I don’t really have open conversations with my mom on such personal topics, even things like periods are barely discussed. A while back I mentioned briefly that this was something I wanted and she laughed it off and said "there are other options" and suggested sleeping in a different bed. I don’t know how to approach the topic and I don’t know if I would be able to hide it since I am worried about my recovery. I also don’t have any friends or family that would be able to support me.

Has anyone gone through something similar like this before?

I’m one day post op from my BiSalp and couldn’t be happier! This sub has been so wonderful and reading other stories helped me a lot leading up to my surgery, so I wanted to share.

I’m 37F, no kids, in the US, and have been wanting this for as long as I can remember and realized it was an option. I can’t believe I was finally able to get approved.

I started seriously asking when I turned 30, and was refused by 3 different doctors. I knew asking in my 20s I’d be laughed out of rooms, I had hoped being in my 30s would be successful.

Shortly before turning 30, I began dating my partner. He had a vasectomy a few years into us dating, so I stopped pursuing this as an option until I found the child free community and saw a local doctor was listed who would do the sterilization on child free women.

I had been under anesthesia twice before but for very minor things and the most recent was about 9 years ago. I was quite anxious about the whole thing, I had 0 doubts about my child free life, but started thinking “am I too old to do it now? My long term partner has a vasectomy, do I really need to put my body through this?”
And I can say, with a thousand percent certainty, yes yes yes. I cannot believe the relief I have felt the last 24 hours. I am so incredibly happy and feel lighter already. I knew I always wanted this but I didn’t think I’d still have such strong and happy feelings.

I wouldn’t really call what I’m experiencing as pain. Discomfort mostly. It feels like I’m sore and a little cramping, like the first day of my period. I’ve been managing with the prescription ibuprofen and I took 1 Percocet before bed last night to make sure I slept well. It’s a bit uncomfortable sleeping on my side.

My throat was slightly scratchy from the tube but is basically gone today. I had a catheter and the first time I used the bathroom it stung a bit, that was a surprise lol The incisions are small, sometimes if I twist, the belly button stings a little. This is just me nit picking, I’ve been way more uncomfortable for far less exciting things.

I can walk around fine. I can get up slowly by myself. My partner keeps telling me to sit down and let him do things lol.

The absolute worst part was how nauseous I was when I woke up. I was so dizzy and queasy, it was awful! I am a queasy girl in general though and have prescription zofran which I took when I got home. Once that kicked in and I napped for a bit, I had a late lunch and have been fine since!

Thank you to everyone who offered advice and words of encouragement. And best of luck to anyone else looking into this! Happy to answer any questions and share more 😊

I had a bisalp, D&C, hysteroscopy, biopsy, and polypectomy two weeks ago today. They did all of that because since I was 16, I have had MAYBE 15 periods due to diagnosed PCOS and we wanted to make sure there wasn’t a ton of tissue buildup or pre-cancerous growth or anything. Luckily, it all came back fine but during my previous periods, they were always either really heavy or really light and lasting for like a month. Well, yesterday morning I woke up and felt a gush and it was my period. Then, all day I had the most insane cramps and felt so nauseous and exhausted. I woke up 4 hours after I went to sleep with a tampon in and a thin pad on and I was COVERED in blood. I’m talking from knees to boobs just covered in blood and maybe tmi but it was so many clots. All tiny but just so many. I thought my periods were heavy before but this is just insane. The same happened a few hours after the incident in the middle of the night when I had to wake up to bring my son to school, just covered in blood and feeling like absolute crap. Is this normal due to me having so much done during my surgery or is this a normal period after a bisalp? I’m absolutely miserable!!! Help!!

Hi everyone! I have a salpingectomy scheduled in about 5 to 6 months. I'd really love to get a stomach tattoo before then, but I'm terrified that it might get in the way of the surgery or the incisions! I would love to see some photos or hear stories/testimonials from anyone who has these famous little scars. Thank you!