Teresa's Story



My husband and I have been married for twenty years and have seven children, ages 6-15. 

In the beginning, I was on the pill for nine years and we were ready to start a family.  I stopped taking the pill and after a year of being “pill free,” I still was not pregnant. The doctor wanted to start fertility treatments, but my husband and I decided against it. Fortunately, I soon became pregnant. I delivered my first child and became pregnant again. During my second pregnancy, it was discovered that I had stage 4, cervical dyplasia (abnormal cells in the cervix). A few months after the delivery, I had surgery on my cervix to remove the cells. The doctor told me that I would have trouble conceiving again, but it seemed to work the opposite.

After the seventh child, with the last four pregnancies being c-section (one set of twins), we decided our family was complete. However, we were reluctant to do anything permanent. I began using contraceptive foam and jelly over the counter and searched the internet for alternatives. I happened upon one website that sold a shield type of device, but it could be purchased without a doctor’s prescription. With seven children, even getting to an appointment was challenging. During the next four years, I used that successfully, but I was always concerned about a possible pregnancy.

In 2003, one of my friends read about the Essure procedure in a magazine and called me. She knew I had scheduled several tubals and had cancelled them each time. I really wanted an alternative. I had spoken with my doctor, but my doctor was not trained on the Essure procedure and thought it was far fetched! (The Essure product had just been approved by the FDA in November of 2002). That did not deter me! I looked on the internet and found a phone number to call for information and to find an Essure trained doctor in my area. At that time, the closest doctor was 2 ½ hours from my home. My husband was willing to drive me anywhere I needed to go. He did not want me to go through another surgery. I found a doctor who was wonderful! If I lived closer I would probably switch doctors; and I really like my doctor (even though he looked down on Essure).

The doctor was not sure he would be able to perform the Essure procedure on me because my cervix does not line up with my vaginal opening. He thought he may have to move the cervix, so he gave me general anesthesia. When I woke up, the doctor told me that placement of the Essure micro-inserts only took 10 minutes. I had mild cramping and was groggy from the anesthesia, so I slept a bit that evening. The next morning I was up and had no pain.

Three months later, I made the 2 ½ hour trip again for the follow-up HSG. This reassured me that my tubes were blocked and that I could rely permanently on Essure. I felt the 3 trips that I made to the doctor were well worth the drive and I would do it again to avoid a tubal ligation.

It has now been almost two years since I had the Essure procedure and I feel comfortable knowing that I don't have to worry about another pregnancy. All my kids are now in school and I have started working part-time.

I would highly recommend this procedure to my friends and now there are doctors near me that perform the Essure procedure!

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