Why I Had My Tubes Tied —in My 20s

Brittany Shoot is 27, married, and DOES NOT want kids—and she has a small scar on her abdomen to prove it. That would be from the surgery she underwent to have her tubes tied, she explains in a Salon essay. For those who want to smugly lecture that it's a mistake she'll regret in her 30s or beyond, save it. She's heard it before, and she's not buying it. "Raising children is incredibly demanding," she writes. "Shouldn't we leave it to the people who really want it?"

Her husband's fine with the decision, and she half-suspects her health is better because she's no longer on birth control. "I've had exactly one migraine since surgery, which, for someone who used to have regular nausea-inducing neuralgia, is kind of a miracle," she writes. "Sex without fear of unwanted pregnancy has been freeing and fun, and I still sometimes marvel that I so easily obtained what I'd always wanted. How often in life do we actually get what we desire?" Click here for the full essay. (More pregnancy stories.)