Understanding Sterilization Regret in the United States: The Role of Relationship Context

Although one fourth of sterilized reproductive-aged women in the United States express a desire to have their sterilization procedures reversed, the pathways leading to sterilization regret remain insufficiently understood. Particularly little is known about how cohabitation affects the likelihood of sterilization regret. This study used data from the 2006 to 2010 National Survey of Family Growth to investigate how relationship context shapes women's risk of sterilization regret. Our findings point to higher levels of regret among women who were cohabiting, rather than married or single at the time of sterilization. Experiencing poststerilization union dissolution or poststerilization union formation was also associated with an elevated risk of regret. Together, poststerilization union instability and selected background characteristics largely explained elevated levels of regret observed among women who were cohabiting at the time of sterilization. An association between regret and poststerilization union instability persisted, however, even when socioeconomic and reproductive background factors were controlled.