# Is the female condom available near you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977 "2010-06-13T01:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/1 "2010-06-13T01:50:05Z")
Well, is it? ETA: geographic location would be nice, if you want to post it. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/2 "2010-06-13T03:56:11Z")
If you’re talking about the anti-rape condom, I don’t think it would be legal in the US. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/3 "2010-06-13T04:16:09Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > If you’re talking about the anti-rape condom, I don’t think it would be legal in the US. WhyNot is talking about [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_condom). [Here](http://www.amazon.com/FC2-Female-Condom-Quantity-Pack/dp/B001GKK4AY)’s one available brand. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/4 "2010-06-13T04:16:17Z")
Never seen one in China. You can get regular condoms for free though. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/5 "2010-06-13T05:05:36Z")
Oh man, I just looked up the anti-rape condom. It’s kinda like a bear trap for dicks. I fear that it might not be disabling enough to stop an enraged rapist from committing murder rather than rape. Almost as scary is that some day a woman will decide to have sex with a man and forget she has it inserted. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/6 "2010-06-13T08:40:14Z")
> **[Whatever happened to the Femidom?](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/aug/23/health.lifeandhealth)** > > Since it was launched to such hype 13 years ago, the female condom has vanished without trace - from UK shelves, at least. But as Kate Burt discovers, in other parts of the world it has quite literally proved a lifesaver. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/7 "2010-06-13T11:26:02Z")
Available in many pharmacies here, suburbs of Chicago. I’ve seen the sponge as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/8 "2010-06-13T11:36:35Z")
It’s here in the West Indies snuggled among the condoms. There was a huge demand for it during Carnival last year. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/9 "2010-06-13T13:34:35Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Available in many pharmacies here, suburbs of Chicago. I’ve seen the sponge as well. Ah, now this one one in particular intrigues me, because I’ve been looking for it in dozens of Walgreens, CVSes, Walmarts, Jewels and Dominickses in just that area, as well as Chicago and along the I-90 corridor all the way to New York State. No dice. Even the Planned Parenthood in Rogers Park (Chicago) doesn’t have it, although they have dental dams (which I’ve also never seen in stores) and male condoms. Got a specific store you can remember seeing it in? I’d really like to get a few, both for personal use and as teaching tools. I also want to know how widely it’s available, so I’m not telling women to try something they can’t get. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/10 "2010-06-13T13:37:57Z")
It is for sale in the regular drugstores in the Netherlands. And, of course, thru [Amazon.](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=female+condom&x=0&y=0), which is cool because they’ve got them reviewed, and it saves on the embarrasment factor by buying online. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/11 "2010-06-13T13:55:44Z")
It’s available here in central Indiana, though not widely. The chain pharmacy I work for stopped selling them several years ago due to poor sales, though we can do special orders for it (as can pretty much any pharmacy). Marketers make a push for it every few years to get them back into stores, but the concept never seems to take off. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/12 "2010-06-13T14:46:32Z")
I haven’t seen one, but I haven’t looked, either. On the rare occasions I buy condoms, I look for the male version. The female version could be there, but I don’t see it. It’s possible that it’s available at Planned Parenthood, clinics, etc, but since I have no reason to go to PP or to ask for it, I answered “Nope, never seen it.” ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/13 "2010-06-13T17:05:22Z")
I’ve never seen them in stores (Western WA), but I imagine they’d be available at doctor’s offices or PP. I’ve never asked. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/14 "2010-06-13T18:20:23Z")
I know I’ve seen them in a few drug stores, but it’s been awhile now. They may still have them, but I haven’t actually bought condoms in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/15 "2010-06-14T01:58:57Z")
Over at Safeway, in the pharmacy. And to think that I remember when they sold only groceries… ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/16 "2010-06-14T05:26:32Z")
Last time I looked the chain pharmacy I work at carries them. However, they are with the female gynecological stuff, not the condoms. Oh, and as **Student Driver** said, we can special order a whole bunch of products back in the actual pharmacy. So if they don’t stock them normally, they can get them. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/17 "2010-06-14T11:03:09Z")
The only time I’ve ever seen one in person is when my health teacher brought in an aray of birth control methods to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/18 "2010-06-14T13:53:33Z")
I’ve only seen one once, when I was in college our health services was giving them away, when they first got them. To be fair, I’ve also never looked for them - I never used the samples, but some of my friends and I opened them to check them out, and they seemed more annoying to use than the male version, and the results are the same - a layer of latex between you. I get the point of them, but I’ve also never had a partner who had a problem wearing a regular condom, so I never bothered. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/19 "2010-06-14T17:13:14Z")
I don’t know that I’ve seen them in stores, but I order the latex-free ones online. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977/20 "2010-06-15T07:14:56Z")
Yup, I’ve seen 'em in most drug stores I’ve been in. They’re typically on the bottom shelf, but they’re there. I’d rather buy male condoms, since supposedly they’re more effective, but I guess if I didn’t have a whole lot of choice, I’d go for the female version. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-female-condom-available-near-you/542977.md?page=2)