The authors report on a longitudinal study that involved the
interviewing and testing of 33 young women volunteers who chose either
contraception (N=18) or tubal ligation (N=15) to achieve infertility. They
found that for these women the choice to be childless was multidetermined,
persistent over time, and ego-syntonic. Comparison with other samples of
women indicate that this is a distinct and nontraditional population.Abstract Teaser