A MUM who had her heart set on having more children woke from a C-Section to find medics had sterilised her without her permission.
Lindsay Clark had part of her Fallopian tubes removed after her second child was born, because she had suffered a life-threatening condition while pregnant.
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But she told the Mirror she didn’t give consent for the procedure to be done and has been left heartbroken she can’t have more kids.
She said: “I woke and was told they’d performed the procedure. I didn’t want it and had been told it definitely wouldn’t be done that day.
“I was completely distraught, just devastated. Doctors took away my chance to have more children.
“How can they do that to someone? How is that fair? I feel like they ruined my life.
“I should have been bonding with my new baby, but all I could think was, ‘I’ll never get to have another child.’ I was inconsolable.”
The mum, who was offered £25,000 by Leeds NHS Trust following the blunder, wants to warn others after her experience in 2014.
She said a midwife at St James’ Hospital, Leeds, mentioned sterilisation on the day of her planned op.
But Lindsay said she did not agree and was told it wouldn’t happen that day, adding: “It is a huge decision and one I would have needed to discuss with my partner. It’s not something you can decide minutes before having a baby.
How does female sterilisation work?
There are two types of female sterilisation, when your Fallopian tubes are blocked with clips or rings (tubal occlusion), or when implants are used to block them (hysteroscopic sterilisation, or HS).
During the surgery for a tubal occlusion, the surgeon cuts through the abdomen wall and inserts a laparoscopy, which contains a light and a camera.
Clips or rings are then applied to the Fallopian tubes, or the tubes are tied and cut.
With hysteroscopic sterilisation, no cuts are required to the abdomen, so general anaesthetic is not needed.
A tiny piece of titanium metal is inserted into each Fallopian tube, which causes scar tissue to form and block the tube.
If blocking the Fallopian tubes has proved to be unsuccessful, the tubes may be completely removed in a process called salpingectomy.
“When I woke up, I was told they’d done it. They took my choice away. It was horrendous. I kept thinking, ‘What the hell have they done to me’?”
Lindsay had suffered pre-eclampsia with her firstborn, Harvey, and then again with second child, Lacie.
Doctors warned another pregnancy could put her life at risk, but Lindsay was adamant she wanted more children.
Leeds NHS Trust acknowledged its “shortcomings” and said: “We have a more comprehensive approach to recording consent for patients, which fully adheres to legislation.”
The Sun Online has approached the trust for further comment.
Once you are sterilised, it is very difficult to reverse the process.
If the Fallopian tubes have been cut, they can be reconnected, but this doesn’t necessarily ensure that fertility will be restored.
Last year we told how a 30-year-old writer made the choice to be sterilised after deciding she didn’t want to have kids.
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