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While there is a dearth of empirical research on how women experience menopause, there is even less data available on people who undergo surgical menopause via oophorectomy, or the removal of the ovaries. Notably, most women do not undergo surgical menopause by choice; rather, it is recommended to women who are at high-risk for ovarian cancer or who are struggling with other concerns related to ovaries, including but not limited to: cysts, endometriosis, or ectopic pregnancy. While symptoms of surgical menopause are described as more severe or more impactful to the body than natural menopause, the recommendations and/or guidelines nonetheless remain unchallenged—have the oophorectomy, or face something worse: cancer, debilitating pain, or death. This chapter will focus on the rhetoric of guidelines for those at high-risk for breast and ovarian cancer who are considering oophorectomy, and how that discourse presents the effects of surgical menopause as minor in comparison to the alternative, when in fact, these effects are not minor at all. Effects of surgical menopause, such as bone loss, heart disease, mood disorders, and vasomotor symptoms, are often debilitating and lead to low quality of life or even premature death. The chapter concludes by suggesting that guidelines present a fuller portrait of the risks associated with surgical menopause such that people considering these surgeries can make more educated assessments of whether or not to undergo this treatment.

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