Woman who lost her three children to tsunami reverses her

Woman who lost her three children to tsunami reverses her sterilization[ Eds: CLARIFIES in graf 2 that death toll is for Sri Lanka[ AP Photos XGA101-102[ By DILIP GANGULY= Associated Press Writer= GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) -

Woman who lost three children to tsunami reverses her sterilization

Tsunami woman reverses sterilization

A Sri Lankan surgeon has reversed the sterilization of a mother whose three children were killed by the Dec. 26 tsunami and is planning a second such operation in what doctors say may be a trend of women restarting families after the disaster.

Dr. Gamini Perera performed the procedure on A. Shanthi, 30, in the southern coastal town of Galle, one of the worst-hit by the disaster that killed more than 31,000 people in Sri Lanka -- many of them babies pulled from mothers' arms or children too weak to swim, run or climb away from the waves.

Shanthi's operation was the country's first-known case since the tsunami. Another woman already is waiting her turn. Perera is not charging the women for sterilization reversals at a state-run hospital.

"Since that day when I lost all my children, I have been waiting for this day," Shanti said late last Monday at the Mahamodara Hospital for women.

"She has a good chance of having a baby again," said Dr. Gamini Perera, who reconnected Shanthi's fallopian tubes.

Many Sri Lankan mothers choose to be sterilized after their second or third child through a tubal ligation, a medical procedure that involves closing or tying a woman's fallopian tubes. The technique is reversible in most cases.

"Now I have only one prayer and that is to have my babies back," Shanthi said, as two nurses checked her blood pressure and shifted her from the recovery room to the ward where she will stay for three more days. Shanthi's husband, Shelton Soyza, 34, is an employee of the local municipality.

"Today is an important day for us," said Dr. Perera, 48. "This is the first case (since the tsunami) in Sri Lanka."

Sithihy Fareedha, 28, who also lost her three children in the tsunami, is scheduled for the next reversal operation.

"I discussed this with my husband and we decided to start life all over again," she said.

In private hospitals, the surgery to reconnect the tubes is expensive by Sri Lankan standards -- about 50,000 rupees (US$500).

Before the tsunami, most reversals were requested by women after second marriages.

"We are starting to see a trend of devastated families trying to restart their lives all over again," said Dr. Priyanee Senadhira, the director of the hospital.

Fighting tears, Shanthi recollected the events of Dec. 26, which was the first birthday of her youngest daughter, Sanduni.

"I was preparing fried rice for her birthday lunch when water came and took her away" along with two-year-old Chandrika and five-year-old Sakuntala, she said.

The tsunami killed more than 176,000 people in 11 countries, left about 50,000 others missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.

GetAP 1.00 -- JUL 19, 2005 11:06:19