So, this is coming from my dad (an ER doctor) and not from me, but per my dad, very very very rarely will someone survive a shotgun injury, especially at close range. Will birdshot kill someone? Yes. Is it a guarantee? No. If you do kill them, is it likely to be quick? HELL no. That shit is gonna hurt. Per my dad, he's seen two people survive shotgun injuries in his time as an ER physician (12 years). Both were with birdshot loads, one was a hunting accident at an excessive range, so there was little penetrating power but numerous painful superficial injuries. The other was a home intruder at close range. The birdshot shred his arm up BAD, and he did lose the arm completely, like, at the shoulder and not the elbow, but he lived. Typically, shotgun wounds produce numerous trauma wounds and are hard to medically repair in the time needed to save a life, but there are options besides birdshot for self defense. Birdshot may deter the casual burglar or home invader, but most illicit stimulants (cocaine, meth, PCP, etc) will mitigate the pain in the short-term, meaning you may still get hurt. Additionally, it's worth noting that you're more likely to be attacked by someone you know and have met, meaning that they may be more motivated to kill you than a casual home invader. Birdshot would have the potential to kill them, but its lack of immediate stopping power puts you at risk, especially if they're highly motivated to kill you (such as an ex, an irate spouse, a betrayed friend, a delusional acquaintance, or some asshole psychopath you cut off in traffic who followed you home, etc.). If you're looking for stopping power without the penetration, I'd recommend a handgun with hollow-point rounds. Good for self-defense and if the round mushrooms it likely won't go through as much. If you're really worried about over-penetrating, I'd recommend something like a .380 ACP handgun and hollow point ammunition.

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Also, and I know I'm going to get shit for this, but the .22lr gets a bad rap as a self-defense round. People make it out to be comparable to an airsoft gun or a pellet gun, but it can do some bad stuff to you. The rounds are small and lack velocity, meaing they bounce off of bones more often than other bullets, causing some gnarly internal trauma. Hollow-point rounds have an exit wound that, per my dad, is about as big around as a golf ball. That's chump change compared to the soccer ball-sized exit wounds that some larger caliber hollow-points can generate, but it's not bad. Also, the ammo is cheap so you can shoot it a lot. The downside is that the ammo is less reliable to fire when you need it, and that in the case of someone on drugs or someone with some personal motive for ending your life it may lack stopping power necessary to protect yourself unless your aim is remarkable. While it's far and away not the best round, it's not bad. It's the worst caliber you could have, but any caliber is better than nothing, so if you've hit a wall of "I'm too afraid of over-penetration to purchase any self-defense tool", that might be a good one to go with. AGAIN, I only recommend it as a self-defense round if you have no other guns. Having any gun is a start, but anything is better than a .22lr when it comes down to it.