A Piece Of My Womanhood

But...recently my partner and I decided that we will not have anymore children. Part of the reason for this decision is that I'm getting older. If we are going to have another child, we should do it now and well, now isn't really a great time to be getting pregnant and having another baby.

Another reason is that birth control of any kind doesn't agree with me. The IUD made me hemorrhage every month and caused panic attacks. I'm allergic to spermicide, so that eliminates the sponge and the diaphragm. Using condoms over a prolonged period of time caused me to develop a latex allergy - the alternative non-latex condoms also irritate my precious parts. And the birth control pill turns me into a psycho, depressed, emotionally out-of-control maniac.

I found a birth control pill that seems to make me crazy for only one and a half weeks of my cycle, so if I lock myself away, ignore emails and phone calls, and self-medicate with marijuana and alcohol during that time, it decreases the impact of my moodiness on friends and colleagues dramatically. My family, however, continues to bear the brunt of my insanity.

In light of my desire to get off the pill but avoid painful private parts too, we concluded that we will not have any more children. And yesterday I made an appointment with my doctor to arrange a tubal ligation.

I chose to get my tubes tied rather than ask my partner to get a vasectomy. He is five years younger than I am and although I sincerely believe we will spend our lives together, I also know that people grow apart.