This 27-year-old is so sure that she doesn’t want kids that she got sterilized

By Brelaun Douglas via SWNS

This woman was so sure that she didn't want kids that she got sterilized - at the age of 25.

Katelyn Stoewsand, now 27, has never wanted children so she had her fallopian tubes removed to ensure that she would never get pregnant.

Correctional case manager Katelyn said: “I’ve known all my life that I didn’t want children, even when I was a kid, I wasn’t interested in interacting with other kids.

“I’m pretty impatient around kids. I’m not much of a people person either. The biggest reason is more about my free time and being able to spend money the way I want to.”

Katelyn, from St. Louis, Missouri, had a salpingectomy, an operation that removed her fallopian tubes, at 25, ensuring that she would never be able to conceive naturally.

“In vitro fertilization would still work if I wanted to get pregnant, but there’s no way to get pregnant naturally,” she said.

“That was intentional. I didn’t want anything that was reversible because it could fail. There’s zero precent chance that I’ll end up with my own family.”

Katelyn started birth control pills when she was 15 before having an intro uterine device (IUD) placed a few years later.

When her IUD was nearing its expiration date, she decided to move to something more permanent and with less side effects.

“My hormonal birth control made me gain a bunch of weight, tanked my sex drive, and made me feel depressed,” she said.

“I had an awful quality of life when I was on the hormonal birth control; it wouldn't have been worth it to stay on it.”

Kaetlyn was already following a subreddit that provided a list of doctors around the nation that perform sterilization for women and found one under her insurance nearby.

The doctor initially asked her what she would do if she changed her mind or what her current partner wanted.

“I told them I would adopt, but was sure I wouldn’t change mind,” she said.

“I told them my partner was irrelevant because it was my body and my choice.”

Two weeks after her exam, Katelyn was being prepared for the outpatient surgery right before an already planned trip.

“It was an easy recovery,” she said.

“I had surgery on Friday and left for Boston on Sunday and walked for three hours.”

Katelyn said the people closest to her were supportive of her decision.

“It was co-workers and acquaintances that had the most to say, which shocked me that they felt they had the right to have an opinion on that,” she said.

“But as far as people who matter, they’ve been super supportive.”

Kaetlyn said her decision was also influenced by her mother figure who never put pressure on her to become a mother herself.

“She always presented it to me as a choice that I was going to get to make,” she said.

“She always told me how much work it was, and I was never interested and along with her I came to the decision that I didn’t want to be a parent.”

Katelyn stressed the importance of women being able to control their own reproductivity.

“A lot of doctors are male, and it makes me sick to my stomach that this is what some women want to do and they’re being told no,” she said.

“Showing women that it’s possible to find the right doctor and showing them it’s not a lost cause for what they want is really important.”

She also stressed normalizing women not wanting to have children.

“It’s important to normalize not wanting to be a parent and not making it taboo to not want a family,” she said.

She encourages others who are interested to research the procedure and make sure it’s what they really want.

“If you’re on the fence, I wouldn’t recommend getting sterilized because it’s irreversible,” she said.

“You should make absolutely positive that it’s what you want. If you do decide, I would recommend being confident when speaking with doctors and keep on keeping on.

“I got really lucky that I didn’t have any doctors turn me away, but I know some women work years to find a doctor that’s willing to do it. But keep trying because it’s your body to do what you want to.”