Male Doctor Refused To Tie Unmarried Mom-of-2's Tubes Because He Didn't Think "a Woman Should Make That Decision"

When a mother-of-three came across a question regarding the "most sexist thing" a man has ever told her, she didn't have to think long and hard about her answer. 37-year-old Sarah-Jo Baskin instantly remembered the time a doctor suggested that she didn't have the right to make a decision concerning her own body and her desire of whether or not she wanted more kids.

In response to a TikTok challenge that asked women to share "the most sexist thing a man has ever said to you," Sarah-Jo opened up about the incident that took place around 10 years ago, right after going through the traumatic birth of her second child. Back then, Sarah-Jo was clear that she didn't want any more kids, but the doctor refused to tie up her fallopian tubes, claiming it wasn't her decision to make.

"...When I was 27 years old, I had just had my second child and I was talking to the doctor about getting my tubes tied," the mother-of-three recalled, as quoted by nzherald.co.nz. "I, at that point, did not want any more children, the labour, delivery, all of that almost killed me and my son, so I was like, nope, don't want any more."

Although she was making a decision concerning her own body and wellbeing, she was shocked when her doctor refused to do the medical procedure. And the reason he gave her left her in shock.

"You're not married," the doctor unabashedly told her.

"I said 'What does that have to do with anything?' and he said 'Well, I think it's best that a man and a woman make that decision together, I don't think you should make that decision on your own,'" Sarah-Jo said.

Soon after her video about the bizarre conversation went viral, people agreed with how chauvinistic the doctor's comments were, and asked if he would have given the same treatment to a man who approaches him after deciding not to father more babies.

"Would he have said the same thing if a man asked to get a vasectomy?" one person asked, according to Mirror.

As Sarah-Jo responded to the comment, she revealed that the same doctor did, indeed, reveal his opinion on a man getting a vasectomy.

"It's really funny that you say this, because he actually suggested that my then-boyfriend go get a vasectomy, with the backhanded comment of 'if you're gonna stay with him,'" the mother shared.

Although Sarah-Jo decided around 10 years ago not to have any more children after an extremely taxing second birth, she revealed that she did have another child several years later. And this was picked up by some people who defended the doctor and said she wouldn't have had her third child if the procedure took place.

"I'm gonna explain this one time and one time only," Sarah-Jo said as she responded to them. "I was ready to not have any more children, I almost died, my son almost died—I had a doctor refuse me that, told me he was not gonna do it because I didn't have a man to tell me I was allowed to do it. So yeah, eight years go by and boom, I get pregnant with another one, just one more."

She went on to say, "My children are eight years apart. I was done. But I'm pro-life for myself, pro-choice for everybody else. So I kept my baby and they monitored me closely and him to make sure that everything was good."

Reiterating the fact that the doctor's comments were still misogynistic, Sarah-Jo added, "[the doctor] wasn't right, he was wrong. It was my body, my choice and no man is gonna tell me what I can and cannot do with my body."

References:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/doctor-refused-to-tie-my-tubes-because-he-didnt-think-women-should-make-that-decision/LVW23YBOF5QXXF7VP6OLD6IV5I/

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/doctor-refused-tie-tubes-because-23764312

Cover image (representational): Getty Images | Photo by Pornpak Khunatorn