# Finding affordable sterilization procedures? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2022, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087 "2022-06-29T04:14:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![operacat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/73ab20/32.png) [@operacat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/operacat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/21 "2022-07-02T14:27:18Z")
If I were looking now, I would probably opt for health tourism. I hear Spain is very affordable and there are clinics that specialize in tube surgeries. They give you flat fees up front, and probably these days, some extra compassion if you are coming from the US. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/22 "2022-07-05T23:30:08Z")
Thanks - that’s useful info. Health tourism, as mentioned, is also a possibility though I’m not entirely sure where we’d go; anywhere other than Canada, and the airfare becomes a dealbreaker. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/23 "2022-07-06T03:19:02Z")
Aw, my gynecologist is on the list. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/24 "2022-07-06T03:27:55Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I do remember having to sign about 20 pieces of paper saying that I understood I would not be able to have children after the procedure. Duh. When we had my mom cremated, all of her children had to sign a document that we knew this was irreversible. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/25 "2022-07-06T03:32:23Z")
That’s pretty cool–send them a “thank you” card maybe? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/26 "2022-07-06T04:41:22Z")
I actually did in a more general way at a recent appointment. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/27 "2022-07-06T14:20:37Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@kayT](#): > > > > I do remember having to sign about 20 pieces of paper saying that I understood I would not be able to have children after the procedure. Duh. > > When we had my mom cremated, all of her children had to sign a document that we knew this was irreversible. Duh. I had to sign a document at the vet. saying that I knew euthanasia would result in the death of the cat. (He was dying. The only remaining question was how, exactly.) I have the horrible feeling that this is the result of some poor vet. having to deal with someone who thought the vet. could bring creatures back to life. Though I suppose it’s possible that it’s the result of some non-thinking vet. not realizing that somebody didn’t understand the word “euthanasia.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/28 "2022-07-06T14:24:33Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Though I suppose it’s possible that it’s the result of some non-thinking vet. not realizing that somebody didn’t understand the word “euthanasia.” Also, the “put to sleep” euphemism is misunderstood from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/29 "2022-07-06T14:35:41Z")
Yeah, i guess if the medical term is “tubal ligation”, it makes sense that the informed consent form spells out clearly that it will result in the inability to have kids. Once. But multiple times? And i thought it was crazy that all four kids had to explicitly consent to the cremation, and say that they understand that the ashes can’t be put back together. My mom was already dead. That was the important thing that’s irreversible. 😢 People are really weird about birth and death, and i guess fertility gets caught up in that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/30 "2022-07-06T19:23:08Z")
I think it’s pretty common for any difficult-to-reverse elective medical procedure to require a lot of paperwork to make sure that the patient really wants it. Because there are some people who do change their mind, and even if they’re very rare, they’re still enough to cause a major headache for everyone involved. That said, requiring a permission slip from the patient’s spouse is clearly way over the line. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/31 "2022-07-06T19:30:35Z")
I wonder if there was internecine fighting in a family, and someone wanted a “whole body” burial and wanted the body restored after a cremation. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/32 "2022-07-06T22:37:03Z")
Or was a member of a religion where one expects to be resurrected, whole-bodied, when the Rapture happens. Supposedly some such religions also frown upon things like organ donation. Can’t be bothered to dig up any cites, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/33 "2022-07-06T23:24:00Z")
The air fare from the U.S. to and from Spain would probably cost more than the procedure itself. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/34 "2022-07-07T13:53:38Z")
For something like this, yes. For something more major, it might well be a wash or even a cost savings. Especially if it’s to a place you wanted to visit anyway, and you’d feel well enough before / after the procedure to enjoy some of the place. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/35 "2022-07-07T20:21:14Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > you’d feel well enough before / after the procedure to enjoy some of the place. I was young and healthy when I had my laparoscopic tubal done. Even so, I was pretty sore for about a week after… I was only allowed to take three days off and was able to work when I had to go back…but I wasn’t happy about it. I’m not trying to scare anyone, a week of complaining vs. a lifetime of living with the sure knowledge that I wasn’t going to get pregnant was well worth it. I’m just mentioning that your daughter might be sore for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087/36 "2022-07-07T22:37:41Z")
My mother had it done back when it was a 3-day hospital stay. She also said it was the only time she’d ever heard anyone really big time complain about hospital food; her roommate was a morbidly obese diabetic who had been hospitalized because she refused to take care of herself, so of course she didn’t like what they were giving her to eat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-affordable-sterilization-procedures/967087.md?page=1)