Of 13 505 women who underwent voluntary sterilisation procedures at eight clinics operated by DKT/Janani in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, India in 2007, the average age of the sterilisation clients was 29 years. The average parity was 3.6. A very high percentage of these clients came from districts with relatively low literacy and high infant mortality, a reflection of the rural and underdeveloped nature of this part of the subcontinent.

Despite a controversial and chequered history of sterilisation generally, the sterilisation of women in India today represents the overwhelming choice of Indian couples. About 37% of married women of reproductive age have chosen sterilisation,1 representing a remarkable 77% of all persons practising modern methods of birth control in …