{"id":44319,"date":"2022-03-06T20:39:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T02:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=44319"},"modified":"2026-06-01T08:39:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:39:05","slug":"is-having-an-operation-that-leaves-you-infertile-a-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-having-an-operation-that-leaves-you-infertile-a-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"Is having an operation that leaves you infertile a sin?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Dear brother Jeffrey,<\/p>\n<p>A sister in our congregation asked me if tubal closure for contraceptive purposes is a sin. She already has children and becomes pregnant easily, but she cannot afford to have another child, as both she and her husband are working, and it is already difficult to raise the children they already have.<\/p>\n<p>I asked her if she meant tubal ligation (which is reversible, although not always) or bilateral salpingectomy (which is the removal of both fallopian tubes, which leads to permanent infertility).<\/p>\n<p>My thought is that tubal ligation (reversible) is not a sin, but permanent bilateral salpingectomy for contraceptive purposes (i.e., in the absence of a pathology that requires surgical removal of the tubes, e.g., for cancer or a serious infection that cannot be cured with antibiotics, etc.) could be problematic for a Christian woman. However, it must be said that tubal ligation (reversible) does not completely prevent unwanted pregnancies: it is considered a very reliable method, but not foolproof. The most recent studies report a failure rate of less than 1%. In addition, the risk of ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus) also increases.<\/p>\n<p>However you look at it, the question is a thorny one. What can I tell our sister in faith so that she doesn&#8217;t do something that is sin in God&#8217;s eyes?<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for your help in seeking an answer to this question. God bless you.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>See\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/preparation-for-a-lifetime\/contraceptives\/\">Contraceptives<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Contraceptives, such as tubal ligation, vasectomies, or similar surgeries (reversible or not) are not sinful. &#8220;<em>For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother&#8217;s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 19:12). Jesus listed out three categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>People who were born infertile.<\/li>\n<li>People who were made infertile. These would not be reversible as in Jesus&#8217; day this often involved removing a man&#8217;s testicles.<\/li>\n<li>People who choose not to have sex. A choice could be reversed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All three are acceptable in the kingdom. While the discussion in Matthew 19:12 is about males who are eunuchs, similar arguments would apply to females.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Response:<\/h2>\n<p>Thank you very much for your reply. I have passed on the information.<\/p>\n<p>Good job.<\/p>\n<p>God bless.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Dear brother Jeffrey, A sister in our congregation asked me if tubal closure for contraceptive purposes is a sin. She already has children and becomes pregnant easily, but she cannot afford to have another child, as both she and her husband are working, and it is already difficult to raise the children they already&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-44319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-contraceptives"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-sell-or-prescribe-emergency-contraceptives\/","url_meta":{"origin":44319,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong to sell or prescribe emergency contraceptives?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I desire to be a pharmacist and being that I already work for a pharmacy as a pharmacy technician, I supply the medical stations with medications. I was wondering what your thoughts were in regards to supplying the medication Plan B that helps to prevent pregnancy from occurring.\u00a0 Am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42242,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-abortion-justified-to-save-the-life-of-the-mother\/","url_meta":{"origin":44319,"position":1},"title":"Is abortion justified to save the life of the mother?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I was having a debate with my sister and I was wondering if you could help. We were debating about abortion, she says that any way you look at it, abortion is a sin and you are going to hell. But what if you are pregnant and if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56997,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-surgically-based-contraceptives-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":44319,"position":2},"title":"Are surgically based contraceptives wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it OK for Christians to use contraceptives and birth control methods such as ligation and vasectomy? There are some people in the church who have second thoughts on the usage of birth control, specifically ones that are surgical.\u00a0The argument is that surgery such as ligation and vasectomy alter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-wife-refuses-to-be-intimate-with-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":44319,"position":3},"title":"My wife refuses to be intimate with me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been married for almost 15 years. I love her to the end of the world. She is going through menopause and it's been two years since entering her.\u00a0We have had years of good sex that didn't involve intercourse but all of a sudden she said it's a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2444,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptized-but-not-converted\/","url_meta":{"origin":44319,"position":4},"title":"Baptized but Not Converted","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Fred Shewmaker Years ago in a home Bible study, the couple with whom we were studying complained that the words I was using were too big. Being somewhat inexperienced in home Bible studies, I was surprised by their complaint. The words about which they were complaining were all words\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28646,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-adaptation-and-evolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":44319,"position":5},"title":"What is the difference between adaptation and evolution?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am getting confused about this. Animals and plants and things are said to be able to adapt, right? But then what is the difference between adaptation and evolution? Because if animals and plants and stuff can adapt to, for example, living in an unusual area, then what is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}