A woman has sparked a debate on social media after revealing that she has undergone a sterilization procedure.
Last February, TikToker Abby Ramsay - who goes by the handle @abbysworldsastage - shared a series of pictures taken in a style you'd expect to see of a pregnancy announcement or gender reveal on social media.
In the video - which has amassed 4.2 million views and 639.5K likes on the platform - the 24-year-old showed a box that has "Congratulations" written on the side.
Ramsey excitedly lifted the lid of the box to display the paperwork for her sterilization surgery. She wrote in her overlay text: "After about 6 years of trying, I finally found a doctor who listened. This goes out to all the ones who didn't."
Watch Ramsey's TikTok below:After posting the viral video, the TikToker was flooded with mixed comments and debates from viewers who were baffled by her medical decision.
One user simply wrote: "Why tho?"
Another person questioned: "What trauma did you experience that led to this?"
A third interjected: "It's literally our job to reproduce. It's God's plan for us. Those who can I must add. Call me a Karen but that's how it's supposed to be ."
Meanwhile, several users applauded her choice in doing what's right for her body and future, with one person penning: "I'm a mom & I wanna say congratulations! Same way I was able to choose to have children you should be able to choose & be respected not to."
A second person commented: "The fact that a woman has to fight for her own right to not to have children, is ridiculous. Not everyone wants kids and that's OKAY."
A third added: "I'd prefer people who don't want children to not have them. Happy for you. Enjoy your life how you want to."
Buzzfeed reported that Ramsay underwent a combination surgery - including a bilateral salpingectomy - in which doctors extracted her fallopian tubes and an endometrial ablation - which removes a coating of the endometrium, also known as the tissue lining a uterus.
The woman reportedly decided on this combination to stop the odds of her having an unwanted pregnancy, as well as the comfort endometrial ablations can offer people like her who experience heavy periods.
In a longer caption on her Instagram, Ramsey explained to her followers why she wanted the surgery, writing: "If you know me, you know that I decided to live a child-free life since I was at least 16. When I turned 19 I decided to start looking into permanent sterilization."
She spoke about the medical professionals who refused to perform the surgery, including one doctor who expressed that "no one should ever get a surgery they don't absolutely need".
"Many of these meetings left me frustrated at the least and traumatized at the most. I was infantilized and not listened to and not taken seriously," she said at the time. "Finally, in December I found a doctor who listened to me, and even figured out why I have been in so much pain for years!"
"I know my body, and I know what is right for me, and I want to thank my doctors for recognizing that and working with my needs. We need more doctors like that," she added.
The TikToker spoke with the outlet and opened up about why she was emotional when she discovered a doctor who respected her medical decision.
"I didn't know how much I just needed someone to listen to me for once. To believe that maybe I knew myself better than they did," she told Buzzfeed.
Not having to over-explain herself about why she needed the surgery was the ultimate relief for Ramsay, who concluded: "While I have many reasons for not wanting to get pregnant and wanting to be child-free - from genetics to fears and medical concerns - at the end of the day, 'I don’t want to have kids' is reason enough and should be respected."
