{"id":2231,"date":"2008-01-18T10:59:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-18T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/reversing-sterilization-one-familys-story.html"},"modified":"2008-01-18T10:59:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-18T10:59:00","slug":"reversing-sterilization-one-familys-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/reversing-sterilization-one-familys-story.html","title":{"rendered":"Reversing sterilization: one family’s story"},"content":{"rendered":"

And now for something completely different — and utterly surprising<\/a>: the story of a Georgia couple who reversed a sterilization procedure, and welcomed a bouncing baby boy: <\/p>\n

<\/a> Etched into David Hanson\u2019s memory is the image of his wife, Catherine, having just delivered their sixth child by emergency C-section, being wheeled on a gurney away from the Catholic hospital in the state where they then lived to a nearby clinic that offered the sterilization procedure of a tubal ligation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shocking to think that 24 hours after giving birth, she was going through the parking lot still wearing her surgical drapes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The decision that he and his wife made for her to undergo the sterilization procedure came out of fear for Catherine\u2019s health and after \u201ca lot of pressure \u2026 about having such a large family,\u201d particularly from their neighbor, who was the surgeon who performed the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard on us to think about what harm might come to Catherine,\u201d if she had another child, said David. He acknowledged the selflessness of his wife who \u201ccontinued to have children without complaint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of resigned ourselves to it. I feel like it was my fault for being open to that. I was feeling like things were out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine was unable to undergo the procedure at the Catholic hospital because tubal ligations, like vasectomies, are sterilization procedures that are contrary to church teaching since they permanently close the conjugal act to the possibility of procreation. In line with natural law, the church teaches that intrinsic to \u201cthe marital embrace\u201d are two inseparable aspects: the unitive and the procreative. Translated another way, as many people who teach on this topic describe, sexual intercourse, a privilege of and gift to married life, is for \u201cbonding and babies.\u201d It speaks \u201cthe language of permanency,\u201d Pope John Paul II wrote in the \u201cTheology of the Body.\u201d It\u2019s a permanency that promotes a faithful, stable environment in which parents can raise their children.<\/p>\n

When either the unitive or procreative aspects are separated from the conjugal act, disorder enters the relationship, which affects the marriage, family and society at large. Since sterilization separates the procreative aspect from the unitive this is why the church teaches against it. At the same time, the church supports natural means by which couples can space their children or refrain from having more children after prayerful consideration. It asks married couples to trust in God\u2019s plan for their family.<\/p>\n

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church expounds, \u201c\u2018Let all be convinced that human life and the duty of transmitting it are not limited by the horizons of this life only: their true evaluation and full significance can be understood only in reference to man\u2019s eternal destiny.\u2019\u201d In other words, God has his plan that is beyond human understanding and couples, in faith, are asked to remain open to it.<\/p>\n

For Catherine, who gave birth to six children in seven years, the sterilization procedure later came to mean that \u201csociety had prevailed.\u201d She recalled thinking that her daughter\u2019s \u201ctraumatic\u201d birth was perhaps a sign to have the procedure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor was in a hurry to do this tragedy. He rushed, and I regretted it. \u2026 At the time it happened all we cared about was our daughter. It didn\u2019t hit me. We justified it. Where sin is involved there is justification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then their youngest daughter turned 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden no one was crying,\u201d Catherine remembered. \u201cI kind of missed it and thought \u2018no one needs me.\u2019 It surprised me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only after more than 10 years would Catherine and David begin to consider a reversal of the tubal ligation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest<\/a> to find out what happened, and how. <\/p>\n

Photo: by Michael Alexander, Georgia Bulletin<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And now for something completely different — and utterly surprising: the story of a Georgia couple who reversed a sterilization procedure, and welcomed a bouncing baby boy: Etched into David Hanson\u2019s memory is the image of his wife, Catherine, having just delivered their sixth child by emergency C-section, being wheeled on a gurney away from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\nReversing sterilization: one family's story - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/reversing-sterilization-one-familys-story.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reversing sterilization: one family's story - 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