ABSTRACT
General practitioners (GP's) are confronted with patients with complex psychosocial problems that run the risk of having unintended and unwanted pregnancies. This raises two questions: 1) to what extend do GP's have the right to enter the private sphere of patients in order to discuss whether they should have children? And 2) how can such a conversation be successful? Based on a case, in this contribution we argue that GP's can play an important role in sustaining the autonomy of patients with complex problems and we provide suggestions on how to start a conversation about this topic. The contribution ends by sketching how GP's can get support in situations like this by a governmental national program Nu Niet Zwanger (Not Pregnant Now), that supports health care professionals in sustaining the autonomy of vulnerable groups in choices around pregnancy and contraception.
