PIP: More than 100 million people globally have resorted to voluntary sterilization to limit their fertility. Often negative psychological complications manifest themselves, such as depressive and remorseful feelings. The requests for tubal recanalization ranged from 1.3% to 15% according to the findings of 22 studies published between 1949 and 1969. The regret over the loss of fertility was higher among women with fewer than 4 children and among those who were sterilized after abortion. The maximum incidence of regret of 10-15% was reported in a 1959 study, and the lowest rates were reported in 1967 (1.3%) and in 1970 (2%). A review of 846 Puerto Rican women aged 15-49 years indicated a certain degree of regret in 21% and profound dissatisfaction in 11%, mainly because of young age and new partner. 25% of 497 subjects in a 1985 Montreal survey expressly requested the restoration of their fertility. Similar results were reported in a Danish study following up 547 cases of female sterilization during an observation period of 50 months. The international literature makes apparent that sterilization can be considered definitive mutilation in certain cases, which raises the question whether the woman who intends to undergo the operation possesses the intellectual, psychological, interpersonal, and social resources to make such a decision. Only absolutely freely chosen, voluntary sterilization can prevent consequences.