# Lack of birth control (very mild) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 30, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052 "2003-04-30T01:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052/21 "2003-04-30T21:05:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*Well, no wonder you aren’t pregnant, if you are having sex on the treadmill. > > Gave it up, myself. That 25 minute time limit was killing my wife. > > And I don’t even want to _talk_ about the whole low-impact aerobics fiasco. > > Regards, > Shodan \*\* This is why I strongly recommend the elliptical trainer. Just don’t put it on too steep of an incline . . . ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052/22 "2003-04-30T21:13:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > While spontaneous abortion is not at all uncommon, to say that “the chances of a teenage girl carrying a pregnancy to term is quite low” is just not correct. The data does not bear that out, despite what your OB said. 63% of teen pregnancies go to term, 21% end in therapeutic abortion, and 16% in spontaneous abortion or miscarriage. The CDC article states: > [@](#): > > Using complete counts of births from the birth registration system and estimates of abortions and fetal loss, the report examines patterns by age, race and Hispanic origin, and marital status. So you really can’t use this study to say anything authoritative about how miscarriage rate varies with age of the mother. And its not clear how teenagers who never even know they are pregnant would be counted - it depends on how they’re doing the “estimating”. Anecdotally, I have heard that it appears that miscarriage rates are going up, because people are realizing earlier that they are pregnant. Also, I have an acquaintance who conceived twins, but lost one of them very early in pregnancy. A few years ago, she never would have known about that one at all, but improvements in ultrasound have made detection of multiple embryos much better. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052/23 "2003-04-30T21:21:13Z")
I find, as a single woman, that a new GYN is almost certain to try to get me on birth control if I say I’m not on it when I go in! And I’m just not one of those women who chooses to keep taking the Pill through a dry spell akin to Tea in the Sahara, so this is a situation that’s cropped up quite often. Nonetheless, this last time (about a year ago), I gave up and said, "OK . . . " when my new nurse practitioner suggested getting on the Pill. A couple of weeks later, I met **SkipMagic**. Coincidence? You be the judge. 😉 **Sapphire Wolf** , I think it’s wonderful that you have the attitude that you do about having kids. I’m not knocking people who are treadmilling their asses off to conceive, but I sort of think that yours is the ideal attitude–chill, get it on when the mood strikes, and let things happen as they will (or won’t). Says the woman who is scared shitless by the fact that one of my SO’s best friends got pregnant despite the fact that she and her husband were using the Pill AND condoms . . . ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052/24 "2003-04-30T21:23:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zabali\_Clawbane \* > \*\*Ask a fertility specialist, or people who have been trying to get pregnant just how “easy” it is to get pregnant. \*\* Well, seeing as how we’re banding about anicdotal evidence here: Pretty much every couple I know achieved pregnancy resulting in child birth within two years of starting. The majority within one year of starting, and about 25% within the first two months. So - suggesting that it’s “difficult” to get pregnant is faux. Suggesting that it’s difficult for “some people” to get pregnant is true. ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052/25 "2003-04-30T21:34:25Z")
This is the way my kids were concieved. We weren’t concerned with birth control and just kinda let it happen. I’m very happy with the outcome. I did get some eye rolls from people who warned me that I could get pregger with out protecting myself. My response was always, “That’s fine.” Now that we have 2 little monsters in the family, I’ve disconnected the plumbing. I hate birth control! ---
**Author:** ![Sapphire\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sapphire\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapphire_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052/26 "2003-04-30T21:44:07Z")
Thank you, **auntie em**. I’ve always found that saying something must (or must not) happen is the best way to have the opposite occur. Hey, wait…maybe I should change it to, “no, we canNOT have kids…” Nah. It’ll happen, or it won’t. Best way to handle life… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052/27 "2003-04-30T21:46:50Z")
Unless your religion forbids birth control and thus you need to go unprotected to get nookie, it’s hard to believe that anyone would feel ambivalent about having a kid. It seems like you either want one or not. Going “meh… I don’t care” isn’t a common way of looking at it. As for a couple that is not deliberately having sex around peak fertility times: Maybe they want a little one, but think that scheduling around ovulation is more like work than fun. They can still be “trying to have a kid”, they just aren’t doing it as actively as they could. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lack-of-birth-control-very-mild/172052.md?page=1)