I Got My Tubes Removed and It Was the Most Liberating Experience

With reproductive health care ever at risk in this country, could this be the future of birth control?

- BREANNA MONA

Someday, you'll meet a magical man and birth his children, who'll carry on your legacy for generations to come. To me, this rhetoric has always sounded more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. Even as a kid, I had little interest in babies. When my parents would encourage me to play with dolls - "kiss your baby, Breanna!" I'd toddle over to whatever one I'd left crumpled in the corner, give it a peck, and drop it again.

Not much changed as I became an adult. Despite the ubiquitous "girlboss" messaging that dominated my 20s, I never actually "wanted it all." Being a mom felt like something that would monopolize my time and kill my dream of a leisurely life and as a writer, I've always craved solitude. What I actually want is total freedom, and I lived in constant fear of it being taken away.

Until November 2023, when I opened up a copy of Women Without Kids by Ruby Warrington. The book introduced me to the idea of tubal removal, aka a salpingectomy, or having your fallopian tubes taken out entirely. I read about how it's a minor, low-risk surgery that's close to 100 percent effective at preventing pregnancy. Unlike with a hysterectomy, people who have their tubes removed still get their periods and aren't forced into early menopause, and their hormonal balance doesn't change. Plus and this part's not for me but still good to know - even with no tubes, you could still conceive through IVF later on if you changed your mind about having kids.

There are other benefits too, like a significantly reduced risk of ovarian cancer, especially compared with after a tubal ligation, or getting your tubes tied. (The latter also comes with a small but real risk of life-threatening ectopic pregnancies.) And the whole thing is generally free or low-cost, depending on your insurance plan, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.