Recent Testimony Given in Regard to Passing Hysterectomy Legislation in Indiana

I recently testified in Indiana regarding Rep. Bruce Border's House Bill 1366 which would require doctors give women (to whom they've recommended hysterectomy) a video which explains the functions of the female organs and consequences of their removal at least 48 hours before signing of any surgical consent. This legislation is so needed. Every minute of every day in hospitals across the U.S., women are being hysterectomized and castrated without being informed of the life-long consequences and often without their consent.

Doctors routinely lie to women about hysterectomy and castration. In fact, they don't call it castration; they simply 'mention' (usually in passing) that they may need to remove the ovaries - as if it's no big deal. Most often, they do remove the ovaries because they get paid for each organ they remove. It's clearly in the best interest of the doctor, hospital and drug companies, etc. to 'clean house' so to speak. This surgery has literally become a 'gold mine' for gynecologists. The after-affects of this surgery leave women completely devastated physically and mentally for the rest of their lives. This surgery and the damages caused by this surgery can not be undone. It is permanent. Below is my testimony.

My name is Robin Karr and I want to thank you today for listening to my story.
About a week ago, I bought the suit I’m wearing today for my funeral. Like most people, I didn’t consider the very real possibility of death; certainly not on a daily basis. But for the past three years, death has become a desirable alternative for me. It is, at least, conclusive by definition. The psychological, emotional and physical pain that I endure on a daily basis, however, is endless.

I was 46 when I met the gynecologist who would end my life as I had known it. And as a result of his butchering of my female anatomy, I woke up a different person; a person I no longer knew or recognized. Everything changed that day.

I went to see this doctor for a swollen abdomen in July of 2007. I had no other health complaints or concerns; certainly no ‘female’ issues. This doctor convinced me that I needed my uterus removed in order for my abdomen to go down. My abdomen was swollen to around 45 inches at the time so this was a huge concern since my abdomen normally measured around 30 inches.

When I questioned the doctor about my post-surgery life, he said: "You'll feel better than ever; like a new woman." This was the first bold-faced lie. I have developed cataracts due to estrogen loss to my lenses and I’ve lost a great deal of my vision. I will require eye surgery to replace my lenses now. I can no longer see to drive by myself. Before the surgery, I took one multivitamin a day. Now I take more than twenty pills a day; pills ranging from calcium to progesterone to Neurontin. Since the surgery, my thyroid gland has ceased working as it should and I now take medicine for that as well. I have short-term memory loss. Other people finish sentences for me that I can no longer seem finish on my own. This is especially difficult for me because I was formerly an English teacher and technical writer. I can’t remember things as simple as how to get to work some days. I have aches and joint pain I never had before the surgery. There are days I literally can't even walk due to groin and leg pain. I have chronic fatigue that has ended up forcing me to resign from work just last week. Six months after my surgery I attempted to hang myself, only to attempt suicide on two more occasions in the months to follow. Worst of all, my abdomen remains swollen most of time just as it was at the time of my surgery.

When I questioned the doctor about sex after surgery, he said, "I'm operating on your body, not your brain". This was the second bold-faced lie. This irreversible surgery removes the sexual organs and annihilates the most basic sexual impulse by making an orgasm anatomically impossible. It is time that this surgery is accurately characterized as what it is: a female castration. This loss is perhaps one of the most profound.

I asked about the potential consequences of removing hormones from my body, and the doctor made a statement that I have thought about every single day since.

He said: “I will simply put back what I take away”.

But this was more than an empty promise. It was an impossible promise because some hormones cannot – ever – be replaced. The third bold-faced lie. I have been on many different kinds of hormone replacement therapies, both synthetic and bioidentical. Nothing has helped me feel like the person I was before the surgery. I currently have hormone pellets surgically implanted (which last for three months) just to avoid having to think about the castration that was done to me on a daily basis.

Because of the many risks and concerns I had regarding removal of my female organs, I signed a consent form that authorized an exploratory surgery to possibly learn the cause of my swollen abdomen and removal of my uterus only if necessary.

Upon arriving at the hospital two days later, I was presented with a “new” consent form -- one which allowed for removal of all of my female organs; including my ovaries. I read the form and refused to sign it. I told the nurse that I wanted to speak to my doctor.

Shortly after this, an anesthesiologist came into my room and told me he was going to give me something to “relax me a little” but would not put me to sleep. Well, it relaxed me a lot. It relaxed me so much, in fact, that when I woke up, I didn’t even realize that I had had surgery.

The nurse was standing nearby. I asked for the doctor because I was still waiting to speak to him or so I thought. She informed me that I’d already had my surgery. And I immediately thought of the form that I wouldn’t sign earlier. So I asked her, “What did they take?” To which she replied: “Everything,” a statement that was painfully true on many different levels.

The hospital allowed for an “elective” surgery to be performed without my consent. I could not imagine how I could face what had been done. I remember crying and stating that I wanted to die. Actually, even the nurse noted this in my hospital record and told my family that she was concerned about my emotional state of mind and thought I should be put on suicide watch. The doctor didn’t agree and my mother ended up staying with me through the night to make sure I didn’t kill myself while in the hospital.

I am so thankful to Rep. Borders for exposing what I consider to be a terrible injustice against women. I doubt men are questioned if they are done having children as women are routinely asked at their 'well woman' check ups. I also doubt that men are encouraged to allow their doctor to castrate them so they can feel like a 'new man' and I doubt that they're told that their sex life will be better than ever if they agree to castration. Yet, women are routinely told these 'lies'.

I didn’t expect to be here today. I certainly didn’t expect to wear the suit that I had selected for my funeral. But I know now that death is not the desirable alternative. I am thankful to be alive and here today. Edmund Burke was the first to make this very powerful observation: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” So I’m thankful for the opportunity to speak out against this horrific injustice that effects hundreds of thousands of women each year. And that is why I am determined to spend every minute of the rest of my life warning other women about the consequences of hysterectomy. The consequences their doctors will never tell them.