Sterilization, Infecundity, and Reproductive Autonomy in Rural, Suburban, and Urban America
Results From a National Survey
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6444895 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shelley Clark (0000-0002-6783-8743, McGill University, corresponding author), Zoe Levy (McGill University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 72-84 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1538-6341 • E-ISSN: 1931-2393 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/psrh.70006 |
| PMID | 40090703 |
| OpenAlex | W4408493527 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 56 |
Objective Rural women are significantly more likely than urban women to be sterilized. This study aims to understand why rural women depend so heavily on this method of fertility control, whether they are more likely than suburban and urban women to desire sterilization reversal, and the impact of female sterilization on rural women's ability to achieve their fertility goals. Methods Data from 10,081 sexually active women aged 15 to 49, who participated in the National Survey of Family Growth (2015–2019), were analyzed using binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses. Unadjusted and adjusted predicted probabilities were calculated to estimate the prevalence of (1) female sterilization, (2) desire for sterilization reversal or wanting a(nother) child if sterilized, and (3) unwanted infecundity among rural, suburban, and urban women. Results Rural women (24.2%) are substantially more likely than suburban (15.3%) or urban (13.9%) women to receive tubal ligation. These disparities are not explained by women's demographic, reproductive, religious, and socioeconomic characteristics. Rural women who are sterilized are not more likely than suburban or urban women to desire sterilization reversal or to want to have (more) children. However, because more rural women rely on tubal ligation, a significantly higher fraction of rural women (34.8%) than urban women (23.8%) who want to have a(nother) child are infecund. Roughly, 40% of infecund rural women who wish to conceive had tubal ligation. Conclusions Limited contraceptive choice undermines rural women's ability to conceive wanted births. These results highlight another important reason for expanded reproductive health care in rural America
Business · Environmental health · Family planning · Fertility · Geography · Logistic regression · Population · Research methodology · Rural area · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Sterilization (economics · Tubal ligation · Demography · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions · Medicine · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies
What Is Rural? Challenges And Implications Of Definitions That Inadequately Encompass Rural People And Places
Contraceptive method use in the United States
Dobbs
Reproductive Autonomy Is Nonnegotiable, Even in the Time of Covid-19
Availability of Long‐Acting Reversible Contraception in Kansas Health Departments
Urban‐Rural Differences in Tubal Ligation Incidence in the State of Georgia, USA
Changes in Permanent Contraception Procedures Among Young Adults Following the Dobbs Decision
Postpartum Contraception Use by Urban/Rural Status
Contraceptive Method Use by Rural–Urban Residence among Women and Men in the United States, 2006 to 2017
Interest in Over-the-Counter Access to a Progestin-Only Pill among Women in the United States
Geographic Variation in Characteristics of Postpartum Women Using Female Sterilization
Desire for Sterilization Reversal Among U.S. Females
Women or Larc First? Reproductive Autonomy And the Promotion of Long‐Acting Reversible Contraceptive Methods
Changing Educational Differentials in Female Sterilization
Differences in Family Planning Services by Rural–urban Geography
Rural–Urban Disparities in Pregnancy Intentions, Births, and Abortions Among US Adolescent and Young Women, 1995–2017
Adolescent Birth Rates and Rural–Urban Differences by Levels of Deprivation and Health Professional Shortage Areas in the United States, 2017–2018
Are Rural Areas Holdouts in the Second Demographic Transition? Evidence From Canada and the United States
The evolution of fertility expectations over the life course
Patterns of Contraceptive Use in the United States
Religious Preference, Religious Participation, and Sterilization Decisions
Female sterilization in the life course
Early Family Formation, Selective Migration, and Childhood Conditions in Rural America☆
Understanding Sterilization Regret in the United States
| Highly cited | No |
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