This paper is based on a study of 97 recruits--50 sterilized and 47 non-sterilized--to a family planning programme in Kingston, Jamaica and tries to account for the reluctance of Jamaican women to accept contraceptive sterilization. The study demonstrates the association between mating patterns in the island and the acceptance of sterilization. This irreversible method was more likely to be chosen by women in more stable sexual unions.
