IUD Removal: These women did it themselves at home.

When Carli removed her own intrauterine device while sitting in a warm bath, she was elated. Getting an IUD removed even today in the U.S. can sometimes be a hurdle; for example, if a woman doesn’t have insurance, or her doctor believes she “needs” to be on long-acting birth control and is hesitant to take it out. The Reproductive Health Access Project has a fact sheet helpful for anyone who has not received this information from a clinician, including an important caveat: “If the IUD does not come out with gentle pulling, stop and schedule an office visit.” There are rare but real risks involved in any IUD removal, whether at the doctor’s office or at home. “When it came to the question of ‘Can you remove my IUD?’ there was this complete level of shame,” Madeline told me. “But it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not real.” While a slice of providers offer guidance to patients on how remove an IUD yourself, and more still believe it to be at least “somewhat safe,” some physicians worry about their patients removing IUDs at home, and even advise strongly against it.