In an attempt to compensate for a lack of a control group in R.M.L. Winston's paper concerning women who regret sterilization, data are presented from the information gathered on a total of 1081 women sterilized consecutively at the Women's Hospital at Liverpool. 614 of the 1081 were traced 24-42 months later. 8.8% of the women indicated that they regretted having been sterilized. The most common reason for regretting the sterilization was a desire to bear children with a new partner. The age distribution at the time of the sterilization of patients who subsequently regretted the procedure suggests that sterilization performed at a young age is more likely to lead to regret. These "regrets" did not all result in requests for reversal of the procedure, which is in accord with Winston's findings. The association between parity and subsequent regret of the procedure was not as clear. It would not be wise to refuse young women sterilization, although patients sterilized at a young age appear to run an increased risk of regretting their sterilization. Instead, there should be careful counseling of the very young prior to sterilization, particularly with a view to predicting the likely divorce.