Member-only story
“Doctor, I Said No Kids. Why Is That So Hard to Accept?”
The harsh reality of access to birth control in India
Swati sat in the gynecologist’s office. She is married, educated, and in her late 30s, asking the doctor for a permanent form of birth control.
She was calm, clear, and committed.
But the doctor wasn’t listening. Instead, he smiled politely and said, “You’ll change your mind. Every woman does. Also, you have been gifted with a uterus. What is the use of that if you don’t bear a child?”
Swati couldn’t believe her ears.
The doctor went on with assumptions about Swati’s future, her marriage, and her ‘supposed’ maternal instincts. While she was expecting a medical supervision, what she got was a moral intervention.
This isn’t a one-off story. It’s a system-wide failure, one where doctors routinely act as gatekeepers of women’s choices rather than allies in healthcare.
When doctors become moral police
Swati’s story is not an isolated one. It represents a quiet epidemic in Indian healthcare, where doctors slip into the role of moral guardians instead of staying medical professionals. The clinic becomes a courtroom, and the…
