1. UW Journalism Graduate Documents Her Fight for Reproductive Justice
By: Katie Smith | March 14, 2016
Brie Ripley and Joyce Macdonald, the producers of Tie My Tubes: A Radio Documentary, pose for a photo in
sweatshirts made by one of their sponsors, Otherwild. (Photo by Adrien Leavitt)
How old is old enough to know that you never are going to want children? University of
Washington student Brie Ripley thinks 22 is old enough, but she has had a hard time getting
doctors to respect her decision. Now she is seeking other like-minded young women for a radio
documentary she is making about the struggle to attain permanent birth control.
Upon graduating from the School of Journalism last fall, Brie Ripley was selected by her
professors at the University of Washington as the first recipient of the Pat Cranston Student
Creativity Endowment which helps fund a project of professional merit of the recipients
choosing.
Ripley knew that she wanted make a radio documentary but she also saw this grant as an
opportunity to challenge herself, so she decided to focus the documentary on her own life,
something she has never done before.
When talking through different topics with her good friend and co-producer of the documentary,
Jocelyn Macdonald, she quickly realized she needed to cover a topic that is not often discussed
and has heavily impacted her life.
Ripley has always been aware that she does not want to have biological children. However,
whenever she brings up the topic of permanent sterilization, doctors continually refuse to
perform the procedure due to the fact that she is young and doesn’t have children.
Ripley who is 22, has been seeking permanent sterilization since the age of 17, “I have seen
around a dozen different doctors and have experienced various negative side effects from
hormonal birth controls,” said Ripley.

2. She elaborates on how being denied sterilization makes her feel, “It feels as if other people have
more control over my body than I do. I feel claustrophobic, like I’m put into this box of
standards, expectations, and stereotypes of womanhood and those are absolutely parallel to my
capacity to reproduce.”
These experiences have moved her to utilize her endowment fund to create, Tie My Tubes: A
Radio Documentary, which will be a first-person account of her endeavor to get her tubes tied.
“We are also going to include the voices of many women who have successfully and
unsuccessfully pursued sterilization, as well as the voices of doctors and women’s health
advocates,” commented Macdonald.
Although the process to get her tubes tied has been a difficult one, Ripley states that she is aware
of her privileged position to be asking for sterilization when so many women historically and
even today, have been forced to undergo sterilization against their will.
This is why she will also be including the history of forced sterilization against women, “It’s
important to bring the history of eugenics and forced sterilization into the conversation to serve a
whole, well-rounded picture of the subject at hand,” said Ripley.
When it comes to Ripley trying to successfully receive the procedure, Macdonald comments, “I
thought it was going to be really easy. I mean Washington is one of the most progressive states
as far as women’s reproductive care goes, but I’m very shocked at how hard it is. It’s not straight
forward at all.”
Ripley’s dream for this documentary is that it reaches the ears of legislators and healthcare
providers but wants to reinforce that, “This this documentary is for women because all women
have been subject to a centuries old patriarchal society where access to their body is
compromised by relentless red tape.”
Production of the documentary will be wrapping up in June as it is going to be submitted to this
years Richard H. Driehaus Foundation radio documentary competition in July.
“This is a participatory radio documentary, which means that it requires the voices of those who
are personally and tangentially affected by injustices towards women and their body autonomy,”
said Ripley.
This requires people to reach out and connect with Tie My Tubes before July in order to elevate
and hear voices that need to heard.
If you or someone you know comes to mind who has had experiences with sterilization or issues
with birth control, reach out to them at their Facebook page, Tie My Tubes: A Radio
Documentary or call their hotline 317-647-5797.