Hey guys, I have just done an interview with BBC radio for women's hour to gain more notice to this petition. I wanted to clarify a few facts just in case this goes to parliament.

I know sterilisation is available on the NHS for women. My petition is to make it Easier for women to get sterilised, as we all know it states on the NHS website it is up to a doctor as to whether sterilisation is in our best interests, so it is by matter of chance as to whether your doctor will think you will want children in the future, or generally if it is within your best interests to even be put forward to the hospital as a maybe. I also want to give a few facts I have found along my way.

5-10% of women Will want a reversal. Success of these reversals is around 50-85%, the success lowers more so depending on age, health and other personal factors as well as the type of sterilisation you have had.

Men have around 10% want to get a vasectomy reversed. 75 out if 100 reversals approximately will be successful. Why are we as women getting told we cannot have sterilisations because we might want children in the future when statistics tell us reversals are on par for both genders?

I have also been told in the past by my own doctor that my partner should go for a vasectomy instead. Not only is this sexist, it is also assuming women have a partner. 90% of single parents (primary caregivers to children) are women. 45% of lone single parents live in poverty. If these women have no partner, how can a vasectomy be given? How can they pay for private sterilisation if so many live under the poverty line? 

Not only this. Women have a 30% decrease in risk of ovarian cancer. The procedure today is also so much less invasive, using keyhole surgery and again has around the same risk rate as a vasectomy. I will get more figures on this once those I have emailed to give figures on this reply. 

I have much more knowledge on this subject and I am slowly going to be building a bibliography so those in parliament can fact check.

I also wanted to explain why I am so passionate on this subject. My sister found precancerous cells a few years ago via a smear test, she wants to be sterilised, has three children and was told no because she is under thirty. I myself have asked for a sterilisation by a doctor who told me to try contraception, due to the fact no doctor wanted to look into a condition I have called dercums disease. Due to this condition, fatty growths all with nerve endings grow all over my body. They are extremely painful and get worse when my hormones fluctuate. I found this correlation by an expert in america who has researched in depth my condition. Due to this, during both of my pregnancies, more of these growths grew primarily on and around my spine as well as my legs. They cause that much pain I struggle to walk sometimes. This means a lot of contraception I cannot take due to it affecting hormones, I've tried to explain this to doctors but unfortunately the ones I have seen refuse to do research into my rare condition and just assume they are "just lumps". I even had one plastic surgeon when I tried to opt for removal of one on my spine tell me she sees three patients a week with dercums and none of them have pain, very difficult since there are only 2001 approximate known cases in the UK.  She also tried to advise my hand spasms I suffer with due to loss of circulation were due to anxiety, proving women especially are ignored, instead automatically assuming problems with our bodies are down to mental health conditions if they suffer with a more rare illness or disease. When I had my second daughter I had a midwife from the Stapleford branch in Nottingham laugh at me, and state "see you when you have another one" when I tried to tell her I cannot have contraception. It was at that point I decided I was an advocate for not just women's health, but better health for all.

After this petition I will be tackling other subjects, I have yet to decide what to turn my attention to next.