Women’s bodies are under constant scrutiny, and to make things worse, we often suffer at the hands of those who disregard our governance. This has been true throughout history and continues even now.
The topic of body autonomy in medical practice is riddled with stories about the abuse and mistreatment of women’s bodies.
Often, narratives emerge that illustrate the unbelievable ways medical professionals, particularly males, disregard women’s ownership over their body.
Twitter user Salome Strangelove took a deepdive into her own story —
— and it caught the attention of thousands of women who shared her experiences.
Her story is really about the struggle her mother endured at the hands of medical professionals.
Even before she was pregnant, there was evidence of medical irresponsibility.
Too often women aren’t told about possible birth control conflicts with other medication.
This could be because birth control is completely disregarded by the doctor when writing prescriptions or simply because there have been too few studies on the consequences of combining it with other medications.
Salome goes on to describe the traumatic pregnancy her mother experienced.
After that, she was disinclined to try again — or rather, at all.
However, her doctor seemed to disagree about what she should do with her body.
Her doctor’s words made her feel so ashamed that her depression worsened, her relationships suffered, and she could not raise her daughter, Salome, optimally.
Even for 40 years ago, this doctor seems particularly blunt.
But even so, there is still a lot of stigma around women who may choose not to have more children or any at all, even if that choice is due to medical reasons.
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Because her doctor essentially refused to tie her tubes, Salome’s mother endured physical and emotional trauma during her later pregnancies.
By the grace of chance, she had a new, younger doctor for her next delivery.
This new doctor was shocked by her experience and wanted to help.
It’s notable that this was still 35 years ago, which illustrates how different generations of doctors have always clashed.
This drastic contrast in her medical care changed Salome’s mother’s life.
“It was only at this point — after two children, two miscarriages, and five years of life-threatening trauma, terror, and shame,” she wrote.
“That she was able to have her choice over her own body respected.”
Salome explained that her first doctor didn’t just control her mothers body.
He “used his authority to put her life in danger, to weaken the bonds she formed with me, to make her fear being intimate with my father, and to shame her into not confiding in her support system.”
“Too many women live through her kind of shame and terror. Too many more have it worse,” she wrote.
The thread was powerful, moving, and retweeted or liked over 80, 000 times.
But the story had one last sad twist.
“Before my mother was deemed healthy enough to have her tubal litigation surgery,” Salome wrote, “she got pregnant again.” Again, this was due to the conflict between her meds and birth control.
Thankfully, everyone was on her side this time.
The family stepped in and did everything possible to avoid more trauma.
Salome finishes by noting that she knows she or her brother wouldn’t exist if her mother’s birth control hadn’t failed or her tubes had been tied earlier. But she also believes in the power of a woman to choose.
You can read the full story here .