Tubal Ligation at Age 20

What are the risks of getting your tubes tied? Are your early 20s too soon to get this procedure done?

In general, tubal ligation is a very safe procedure, associated with the small risks of laparoscopy and anesthesia, in a healthy woman, regardless of her age.

However, other permanent methods of tubal sterilization have been recently developed which involve hysteroscopy rather than laparoscopy. Laparoscopy involves placement of instruments through the abdominal wall, while hysteroscopy provides access to the tubes at their insertion into the uterus, through the cervical canal, without any incisions. Thus hysteroscopy is generally safer than laparoscopy.

However, the major issue here is not the safety or side effects of either surgical approach, but rather the best choice of contraception for a woman in her early 20s. At such a young age, permanent surgical sterilization is much more likely to lead to future regret than it would for women above the age of 30.

If your life circumstances should change over the next 10-20 years (as they are likely to do), you may be faced in the future with complex and costly procedures to restore fertility such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) or tubal microsurgery. Highly effective, safe and convenient reversible methods of contraception, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and hormonal preparations, are widely available and may meet your needs without restricting your future reproductive options.