He sees for tubal ligation and this doctor has the worst reaction

Article originally published in May 2022

It is a trivial story, unfortunately. Annoying, irritating, but sadly banal. Of those that we often hear, and that remind us that women’s bodies do not yet belong to them, that their choices and their rights continue to be derided, and that we still have work to do for society to evolve.

This is the story of Ophélie, creator of Instagram accounts @Gardetesconseils and @minicoquillette.

A gynecologist refuses her sterilization operation

Ophélie is a mother of two children. On her Instagram account she shares her daily life, her rants, her emotions. She talks about the difficulties and the little joys of parenting, of her post-partum, of her hard blows, she questions herself, learns, discovers and shares.

Ofelia doesn’t want any more children. He has his reasons, which he shouldn’t even justify. Yet when he decided to get sterilized by undergoing an operation that allowed his tubes to be ligated, he took a hell of a riser.

As she explains over the phone, her first appointment with a previous gynecologist went well. She was informed about the risks of the operation, about other possible contraceptive methods and was able to have the mandatory four-month cooling-off period to think carefully about his decision.

“I was able to go to the appointment with this gynecologist with my spouse and my baby, who was two months old at the time. The discussion was kind, I was able to ask all my questions, she answered my questions. She didn’t try to dissuade me at all, she just told me to wait until my son was a year old before performing the operation, which I didn’t mind. “

At the end of the imposed deadlines, she learns that those who follow her are on long-term sick leave. Wanting to take the initiative, having filled out all the forms and still being sure of her choice, she turns to another recommended gynecologist to complete the sterilization process. And there is a cold shower.

The gynecologist’s contempt for his patient

As Ophélie explains in the Instagram post above, the gynecologist she was able to meet was condescending, infantilizing and intimidating. The sentence he would have said to her, namely: If your spouse and two children die in a car accident, you will start a new life and want more children he is incredibly violent, and this gynecologist deserves a mention to the College of Physicians. It is not worthy of doctors and this lack of benevolence should not go unpunished.

Let’s be very clear: yes, a doctor has the right to refuse a tubal ligation for contraceptive purposes. It is even indicated in the Public Health Code, article L2123-1 in fact. In this article, available on legifrance, we can read that:

“The doctor is never required to perform this act for contraceptive purposes, but must inform the person concerned of his refusal from the first consultation. “

Public health code

But at no time is it indicated that such a refusal can be justified by misogynistic, sexist, infantilizing and paternalistic remarks. At no time is it specified that the practitioner, who has taken the oath anyway, will be able to harm his patient and despise her to the point of making her cry with rage and rage.

The body of women, this inexhaustible subject

We told you at the beginning of the article: this story is sadly banal. Ophélie is no exception, she has not met an old retrograde reactionary whose words would have had more space in the 1950s. Unfortunately, she Ophélie experienced what all women experience on a daily basis: we wanted to have control over his body.

Whether you are a mother or not, whether you want children or not, whether you choose to breastfeed or not, to have an abortion, whether you gain or lose weight, whether we use contraception, whether we show our bodies or hide it: our society, which he is patriarchal, he wants to get rid of us and have an opinion on our flesh.

In the case of Ophélie, the example fits into a very small sentence: ” ask your husband to do a vasectomy “This sentence, balanced by the gynecologist, shows that his willingness to perform sterilization or not depends on the sex of his patient.

If we follow her nauseating reasoning, it’s okay for a man to lose his kids in a car accident and then can’t get them back, but on the other hand, if it’s a woman … Further proof that it’s the choice Ophélie makes for his body annoying this practitioner, and not for the act itself.

The company continues, in 2022, to have a opinions about our choices, our bodies and the way we live our lives. As Ophélie rightly says in his Instagram story, following his appointment with the despicable gynecologist:

“We were made to carry the burden of contraception from our early youth. […]. We don’t take women’s suffering into consideration – go talk to a woman suffering from endometriosis or vaginismus!

It is decided for us that we must have children. Their number. From the age group in which we have to do it. From where we have to stop doing it. What’s more, when we confront an old sexist gynecologist who abuses his power to put us underground by making us imagine our children’s coffin, do we have to keep our mouths shut? And no ! “

Dear society, dear doctors, please stop believing that you can continue to have opinion and decision-making power on how we manage our lives. We represent half of the world population, you will have to take it into your head that you have NO rights over our bodies and our choices. Thanks x.

Photo credit image of one: cyano66