My exmo family member was told by a TBM friend to not get a vasectomy because it talks about this in the church handbook. Too late because he already did, but what business is it of hers? Why does the church care if you get this done? They just want you to keep popping out more babies?

Yep, I've been told I'm going directly to hell for it.

Page 167, 17.3.15, CHI 2010 USA

The church strongly discourages surgical sterilization as an elective form of birth control. Surgical sterilization should be considered only if (1) medical conditions seriously jeopardize life or health or (2) birth defect or serious trauma have rendered a person mentally incompetent and not responsible for his or her actions. Such conditions..see a professional blah blah. Even then, the persons responsible for this decision should consult with each other and with their bishop and should receive divine confirmation of their decision thru prayer.

I just can't wrap my brain around why it's anyone's business. My DH is fixed now and I couldn't imagine saying, "We need to discuss this with the bishop first." That seems completely demented.

I haven't heard that until now. I know it's been done in my TBM family.

I went to Dr. Snipit over 10 years ago. Never discussed with the bishop, as if it's any of his nevermind. I know of many men in the ward who have had the snipping done. I know none of them have bothered with speaking to a bishop.

When I made the decision to have my tubes tied, I simply did it. And all of my friends in the church, women in my same shoes did it. I've never heard it discouraged really. Everyone seemed pretty matter of fact about it.

Yeah I don't think it will stop TBMs from getting it done. I know several that have had the procedure done as well. It just seems like another thing for TSCC to control though.

I had complications with my last delivery that would have made another pregnancy life-threatening for me. Being the TBM I was, I went and asked my bishop what the church's position on the matter was. He told me that 1) applied to me and if I were his daughter, he'd point out that my kids needed a mother more than another sibling. I went ahead and had my tubes tied and it was the right decision for me. Especially because, as the years went on, I realized I wasn't cut out to have one of the large families Mormons promote. Two was the perfect number for DH and I and I'm very glad that when I needed a good, sensible bishop I had one.

This is also one of the problems with the secret handbook.

The instruction against surgical sterilization is in Book 1, which only the bishop and stake president get. I know more than one person, who when told of the policy, said, "I didn't know that and it didn't occur to me to ask my bishop if it was OK."

I mean, seriously.....

The words:"strongly discourages" has very little meaning to the LDS folks who want to have some kind of procedure done. They do it anyhow. Of course, it's not the church's business, but that doesn't stop them from having an opinion about everything.

I had to get my tubes tied because my damn TBM DH refused to get a vasectomy, the fucking idiot.

imalive Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had to get my tubes tied because my damn TBM DH
> refused to get a vasectomy, the fucking idiot.


Wow what a piece of shit. A vasectomy is safer and easier from a medical standpoint, and (I am assuming) you already went through the risk of being pregnant and giving birth.

I saw this tidbit on SL Trib: It “strongly discourages” surrogate motherhood, sperm donation, surgical sterilizations (including vasectomies) and artificial insemination — when “using semen from anyone but the husband.”

If true, I am disappointed to hear this. One of the few defensible things I thought mormons had going for them was that although they were over the top in telling people to procreate, they did not "ban" birth control the way some other sects do.

I was a convert. I had my tubes tied before I had heard about the church's stand on surgical birth control... a dear friend at church was horrified when she heard what I did. She was honestly upset to the point of tears. She told me that the power of the priesthood is so strong that "whatever is bound here on earth will be bound in heaven", hence if I purposefully sterilize myself here (bind my fallopian tubes) I would be unable to have children in the eternities when it is time to populate my own planets. My celestial body would have tied tubes because I purposefully did it to myself. My husband's sister wives would be the ones populating my planet because of what I did.

..I would be taking my husband to get a vasectomy right now. That way there would be no point to him having additional wives ;)

My mother, sister and SIL, all TBMs, had it done.