Why would I? My TL IS birth control!
It sounds like a doctor trying to push hormonal birth control on someone who doesn’t need it.

This one is mine. I went to see my family doctor because I thought i had a kidney or urinary tract infection. She asked me when my last period was, and i told her and mentioned that it only lasted a day. She then asked me what type of birth control I used, and told her I had my tubes tied a little over a year ago. She tells me I might be pregnant, and does a pregnancy test in addition to doing a urine culture. Turns out I wasn’t pregnant, n UTI or kidney infection. She said I was having back pain that was caused by sudden weight loss (25 pounds in a couple months) but did no other test to prove it. i asked her to test my hormone levels because under active thyroid runs in my family and she wouldn’t do it. Worse part is is that I have no idea what is wrong, and wasted $50 on the copay for a bunch of “I don’t knows”. I’m in the process of finding a new doctor. On a happier note most of my symthoms have went away, and I’m feeling better except for my back pain.

I mean… Bobbie’s comment reveals this doc isn’t anyone to write home about.

But as a perfunctory question, as asked of pretty much everyone under whatever circumstances, I don’t have a problem with this. Some people use additional BC even with a tubal, and, even more relevantly, sometimes docs use “BC” or “contraceptive” as a euphemism for any sort of protection (including against diseases). Like if I were sexually active with someone I wasn’t in a LTR with (or if we were dealing with infidelity, etc., etc.), I would use condoms even if I had a tubal. It can sometimes be a relevant question. Maybe not usually (when someone’s had a tubal)… but I don’t think it’s crazy, stupid or offensive by itself.

Are doctors not required to take statistics? It seems so many of them don’t know the difference between possible and probable. Using a form of BC with a .3% failure rate means pregnancy is impossible (I had more than one doctor refuse to test me when I was on the Pill), but you need to use back up for a method with a .15% failure rate. A .04% chance of catastrope means ZOMG we’re all gonna DIE!, but a 4% chance of major complication is no big deal. I mean, yeah, tubals can fail, but it’s rare enough not to need back up.

Goodness, exactly how many forms of birth control does one woman need?

My tubal ligation failed two months after the surgery. It wasn’t ectopic; the incompetent who performed the surgery left one side open. I had an abortion, and my husband had a vasectomy, which has a much lower rate of failure than tubal ligation, is cheaper, and much less invasive.

After my experience there is no way I’d recommend tubal ligation to anyone. Unlike most forms of birth control, the failure rate goes up as more time passes, and those failures tend to be ectopic pregnancies, which can be very dangerous. Of course, it’s a lucrative surgery, which is why OB/GYNs love them.

Yes they can fail or you can have a ectopic. My gynaecologist in the UK did an open procedure and removed part of each tube to stop this small chance. I have a 4 inch scar and my tubal ligation can never be reversed as the tubes will not fit back together.

Its wonderful not worry about contraception ever again or even the small chance of pregnancy.

I laughed and laughed at my discharge instructions following a Post partum tubal ligation…

“Condoms and foam for birth control” I even teased the doctor who’d actually done the tubal(not the discharge)

Pregnancy is low hanging diagnostic fruit. That’s why they do this stuff. It’s a shame the doctor didn’t listen to you and wasted money like that.