# Birth Control Opinions... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571 "2006-03-16T05:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571/21 "2006-03-20T06:22:04Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I wonder something similar about hormonal bcp preventing ovulation (I mis-typed something that looked like “ovululation” first - the sound made by a woman with Mittleschmirtz? The sound of one egg falling? Anyway, I digress) - don’t you get menopause when you run out of eggs? If you are prevented from ovulating, does that mean that the eggs are stored up so you get menopause ten years later? I think I need to do some research on this. I am neither a doctor nor a scientist, but I seem to recall having read that a girl is born with several hundred thousand potential eggs in her ovaries. However, only a few hundred of these will be ovulated in her lifetime, so menopause isn’t due to running out of eggs. I don’t think hormonal birth control affects the age at which menopause occurs, but I don’t know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571/22 "2006-03-20T11:04:19Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Yes it is. Or it was about 13 years ago. I still have the tubes in my arm, although I’m sure the medication went dead about eight years ago. Norplant lasts about five years, and you can have them removed at any time. That’s about when I got mine in, and, as I said, I thought it was great. Unfortunately, after some discussions with the FDA, the manufacturer decided to voluntarily permanently recall it in 2002. [Here’s a link to information on the recall.](http://www.adrugrecall.com/norplant/norplant.html) It’s a shame. It’s still on the FDA website I use for checking information on contraceptives, and it’s the most effective form of contraception on there, beating even male and female sterilization. I gather Norplant is available in other countries. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571/23 "2006-03-20T13:07:19Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I wonder something similar about hormonal bcp preventing ovulation (I mis-typed something that looked like “ovululation” first - the sound made by a woman with Mittleschmirtz? The sound of one egg falling? Anyway, I digress) - don’t you get menopause when you run out of eggs? If you are prevented from ovulating, does that mean that the eggs are stored up so you get menopause ten years later? I think I need to do some research on this. It’s not a matter of running out of eggs at all - you have many more than you’ll ever release. Menopause appears to be a feature, not a bug - it happens at a certain age and is not related to running out of ova at all. Exactly why human women experience menopause is still unknown, but various theories exist as to what evolutionary purpose it might serve. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571/24 "2006-03-20T13:52:19Z")
Well, I, for one, recommend VASECTOMY! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571/25 "2006-03-20T15:36:20Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > It’s not a matter of running out of eggs at all - you have many more than you’ll ever release. Menopause appears to be a feature, not a bug - it happens at a certain age and is not related to running out of ova at all. Exactly why human women experience menopause is still unknown, but various theories exist as to what evolutionary purpose it might serve. Well, I obviously need to do more research on this subject. Speaking of why human women experience menopause, we were discussing this yesterday, and came to the conclusion that since humans didn’t used to live much past 35 or so, menopause wasn’t an issue - it was more of a life-o-pause. Okay, maybe you had to be there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571/26 "2006-03-20T16:43:27Z")
After my son was born, I went on th mini-pill. It was supposed to be safe while nursing. Ugh! I was moody and pissy and emotionally a wreck…and I had no sex drive. After I stopped nursing, I tried to go back on the regular pill and had the same experience. Eventually, I had my tubes tied. Clearly, that’s not an option for you, but it was for me. I’m just saying, for me, the mini pill was as bad or worse than the normal pill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-opinions/348571.md?page=1)