# Why do Women use the pill instead of other birth control methods? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006 "2012-02-16T03:53:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/41 "2012-02-17T03:03:40Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I think the main reason the pill is such a popular option is because it has been around so long that everyone knows about it, everyone knows someone who takes it, and most people are comfortable with it. > \ I’d go with this. Other forms of birth control are scary. A pill is a familiar way of taking medication. Having an object shoved up your vagina or relying on yourself or something much like a sticker providing you enough hormones to prevent pregnancy is uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/42 "2012-02-17T03:13:00Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I wonder if she’s looked into a **non-hormonal** IUD, like Paragard. Depending on her age and whether or not she’s ever given birth, she may have to hunt around to find a gynecologist who’ll insert one. I don’t know, honestly. She is 44 and has one kid. She’s just finishing a health sciences degree, so I bet she’s looked into pretty much all the options. Polyurethane condoms, yes, a possibility, but I’d hate to have to rely on condoms alone…and she sure as hell doesn’t want to get pregnant at this point in her life. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/43 "2012-02-17T03:13:33Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Another barrier to use of the NuvaRing is that many women are squeamish about touching their own genitals. I’ve heard this from a number of places. Can anyone enlighten me on why? I can understand that using a NuvaRing, or a tampon, or anything else, could be uncomfortable the first few times, but I don’t understand the psychological barrier that is apparently there for a not-insignificant number of women. Surely no part of your own body is verboten? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/44 "2012-02-17T03:21:43Z")
I kept using the pill even when I was celibate for several (long) years because not having nine-day-long periods with gawd-awful cramps was a nice bonus. I still use it to this day, because I’m afraid of what might happen to my cycle if I go off of it. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/45 "2012-02-17T03:52:59Z")
> [@FlyByNight512](#): > > I’ve heard this from a number of places. Can anyone enlighten me on why? I can understand that using a NuvaRing, or a tampon, or anything else, could be uncomfortable the first few times, but I don’t understand the psychological barrier that is apparently there for a not-insignificant number of women. Surely no part of your own body is verboten? How often do you stick your fingers up your rectum? Many women don’t like to have to try to place a nuvaring inside by touch alone. Incidentally, here would be a good place to add a rant about the Virginia Legislature ramming through a “personhood” bill that states that life begins at conception. That means no IUDs, no Depo, no Implanon, and no progesterone-only pill (minipill). I think I’ll take it to the pit. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/46 "2012-02-17T03:59:53Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > How often do you stick your fingers up your rectum? I dunno, those two things don’t equate at all to me. The rectum is NOT hygienic (though not exactly the worst thing in the world either), and is really only designed for things moving outward. The genitals are a very different kettle of fish. I will, however, take your word for it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/47 "2012-02-17T04:16:01Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Implanon requires a surgical procedure to insert and another to remove, which opens you to risk of site infection, and if things go really, really wrong, cellulitis and so on from said infection. The incisions scar, and if it’s the same implantable birth control they had when I was a nipper, the implant itself makes a fairly noticeable lump in your arm. Implanon is implanted by way of an injection into your upper arm, in a similar fashion to a pet being microchipped. It’s barely what you’d consider a “surgical procedure”, with a low-level local being needed only to numb the area because it’s such a large needle. There’s no scalpel until it’s time to remove the implant, and even then generally the cut is no larger than the injection site originally was, there’s no stitches, there’s barely even an open wound. I’m on my fourth course of implanon and each time the numbing, extraction and re-insertion have taken less than an hour, in a general practitioner’s office. I have one tiny scar, less than half a centimetre long, and that’s only there because my last implant developed a capsule around it that required a slightly larger cut to get through. The previous three had left no scarring whatsoever. And I’m someone who gets keloids quite badly. The implant itself is a very flexible, quite thin plastic rod. It can be felt when you palpate the area, and you can push one end of it to make it press up against the skin and it’s visible then, but you can’t feel or see it in day-to-day circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/48 "2012-02-17T04:21:56Z")
> [@FlyByNight512](#): > > Surely no part of your own body is verboten? Tell that to people squeamish about inserting contact lenses or anyone with a sensitive gag reflex… ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/49 "2012-02-17T04:28:17Z")
Well, I could never put in contacts (can barely apply eye makeup), have a ridiculously sensitive gag reflex, and no, I’ve never explored my rectum. But rummaging about in my vagina? No problemo, even though mine is extra long and I’ve lost some things before… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_I\_Am](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sam\_I\_Am](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_I_Am)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/50 "2012-02-17T19:26:50Z")
My other half had a vasectomy, and I still take the pill - to control hormonal migraines, PMS, excessive bleeding, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Some days I look forward to menopause. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/51 "2012-02-17T20:11:27Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > All my research says I don’t. But according to the local Planned Parenthood, they wont give me one because I’m not married— and what if I go have crazy, scandalous, slutty sex with a whole mess of strangers (because I can’t do that if I’m married), acquire a horrific disease, it travels up that little piece right into my uterus and kills me. WHAT THEN?!? Just another vouch for the fact that it is very difficult to find any physicians that will give you an IUD if you are not married or have kids. I am married, and I had to call 10 doctors just to find one who said, “We will make an appointment for a consult, but that is no guarantee we will give you one.” It’s ridiculous and patronizing as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/52 "2012-02-17T20:26:15Z")
I didn’t have any problems getting an IUD, but I was married at the time. No kids, though, and young. I also had a psychiatrist who specifically recommended the copper IUD, due to the fact that I get some pretty bad mood swings on the Pill. He made sure the OB/GYN knew, at my request. That being said, I understand why people go with the pill. IUDs aren’t always covered by insurance, and they’re expensive to get put in. Implants and Depo mean, amongst other things, that once it’s in, it’s in, and either it’s a pain to get it out, or it’s simply not possible. I was on Depo once for two shots, and I hated it. I had a period that lasted six weeks, I got migraines, and I was just effing depressed. Essure’s permanent. IUDs can cause cramping. The Pill, on the other hand, can be extremely cheap, especially if your body isn’t too picky about which one you use. One of the ones I used to get can be had for $4 at WalMart, even without insurance. Cheap reproductive control is a very nice thing. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/53 "2012-02-17T22:10:43Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Just another vouch for the fact that it is very difficult to find any physicians that will give you an IUD if you are not married or have kids. I am married, and I had to call 10 doctors just to find one who said, “We will make an appointment for a consult, but that is no guarantee we will give you one.” > > It’s ridiculous and patronizing as hell. I had no problems with it whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/54 "2012-02-17T22:22:28Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Just another vouch for the fact that it is very difficult to find any physicians that will give you an IUD if you are not married or have kids. I am married, and I had to call 10 doctors just to find one who said, “We will make an appointment for a consult, but that is no guarantee we will give you one.” > > It’s ridiculous and patronizing as hell. I’ll go along with that. I’ve been asking various doctors for it for the past fifteen years or so. I’m in my middle forties now and it must be on my notes that I have asked repeatedly for it And still the answer is no. Apparently a childless and unmarried woman in her middle forties will not be able to handle the pain of the insertion. Which I admit is a whole lot better as a reason than what I was told more than once in gynaecological appointments of yore - that I would obviously want children soon anyway, so what was the point? Bollocks to that. I can readily see that a woman who’s had a baby or two will have an entirely different set of insides to me, so if that really is the reason that childless women are denied it, well alrighty then. But why have I only heard this lately? Why not tell me that in the first place, instead of repeating the very aggravating stuff about wanting a baby soon. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/55 "2012-02-17T22:35:06Z")
I just called my gynecologist and asked for it, and they had a consult, and then they installed it. No problem whatsoever with me being unmarried and childless. They offered me a Motrin after the insertion. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/56 "2012-02-18T04:13:20Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I just called my gynecologist and asked for it, and they had a consult, and then they installed it. No problem whatsoever with me being unmarried and childless. They offered me a Motrin after the insertion. You’re in the minority, **Zsofia**. Sad but true. If you look for messageboards/discussions about wanting an IUD/IUD experiences, you’ll see that it is pathetically common to run into these issues. Refusing to insert an IUD if you are not married/haven’t had children yet is based on ignorance and (dare I say it?) paternalistic (yes, even if it’s a female doctor; I’m talking about a cultural attitude). A lot of it boils down to the _extremely_ low possibility of infertility as a side effect (like I said, it’s extremely rare and generally caused from getting a uterine infection or perforation) and of _course_ you are going to want to have kids, so we refuse to let you even chance that! Oh, and even if you tell them repeatedly that _you.do.not.want.to.have.kids. Ever._, doesn’t matter. You’ll change your mind. It also doesn’t matter that dangerous side effects are more common with hormonal birth control pills than with either of the IUDs available in the US, either (severe depression, blood clots, stroke, etc). Who needs logic and common sense? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/57 "2012-02-18T04:42:26Z")
There is not the slut-shaming over here with regards to birth control and ease of access to contraception that there seems to be in the US. They still won’t give tubals to women under a certain age who haven’t had children, but apart from that the rest of it is just like any other medication - you go to your GP, which is usually bulk-billed and so no cost to you at all, you get your prescription, you go to the pharmacy and fill it. But when I was talking to my doctor about birth control options, he said that they don’t like to put IUDs in women who haven’t given vaginal birth, because there can be a fair amount of distress in trying to dilate and get it past the neck of the cervix. Not that it won’t be done, just that they look for other options first, because of the difficulty involved for patient and doctor. So there is a physiological reason that they prefer not to install IUDs in women who haven’t given birth - that aspect is not just paternalistic bullshit. However it should only be a preference, and should always be overridden ultimately by the woman’s educated decision. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/58 "2012-02-18T05:53:23Z")
I’m 26 and until now, my only birth control has been tracking my ovulation, using condoms when necessary, and having a very responsible partner with excellent timing. But I’m single now for the first time in 7 years, and I am going to use a low-dose pill for birth control because: it’s cheap (I’ll have to pay out of pocket for whatever I use), I think it’s more convenient to take a daily pill than schedule appointments and undergo insertions, I can discontinue using it at any time I choose, which I probably will when I don’t have a consistent sexual partner, and I can try another pill right away if I don’t like the side effects of the first. I am also hoping I’ll gain some weight and my boobs will grow. A few of my (childless) friends my age have IUDs, and got them with no problem. It seems to depend very much on the area. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/59 "2012-02-18T06:48:56Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Just another vouch for the fact that it is very difficult to find any physicians that will give you an IUD if you are not married or have kids. I am married, and I had to call 10 doctors just to find one who said, “We will make an appointment for a consult, but that is no guarantee we will give you one.” > > It’s ridiculous and patronizing as hell. How odd! Things are moving backward. Back when I was a young lass, I was unmarried and had an IUD, no questions asked. And I was a not very wealthy single mom, so I’m pretty sure it was some clinic such as planned parenthood. The thing the doctors wouldn’t do back then was perform a tubal ligation if you were younger than 30 (or some such …IIRC the age correctly). I was QUITE sure I didn’t want any kids other than my daughter, but noooo doctors knew better than me. :rolleyes: Not that I don’t love my son, but I did know I didn’t want more children, he was the result of failed (or user error) birth control, not my own lack of knowledge of self. I was able to get a tubal not too long after my son, the surprise, was born. Most fantastic thing ever! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006/60 "2012-02-18T07:15:18Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > You’re in the minority, **Zsofia**. Sad but true. If you look for messageboards/discussions about wanting an IUD/IUD experiences, you’ll see that it is pathetically common to run into these issues. > > Refusing to insert an IUD if you are not married/haven’t had children yet is based on ignorance and (dare I say it?) paternalistic (yes, even if it’s a female doctor; I’m talking about a cultural attitude). A lot of it boils down to the _extremely_ low possibility of infertility as a side effect (like I said, it’s extremely rare and generally caused from getting a uterine infection or perforation) and of _course_ you are going to want to have kids, so we refuse to let you even chance that! > > Oh, and even if you tell them repeatedly that _you.do.not.want.to.have.kids. Ever._, doesn’t matter. You’ll change your mind. > > It also doesn’t matter that dangerous side effects are more common with hormonal birth control pills than with either of the IUDs available in the US, either (severe depression, blood clots, stroke, etc). Who needs logic and common sense? :rolleyes: Heh, back in the early 80s I had my _second_ lifethreatening miscarriage. My OB/GYN of the time was associated with a Catholic hospital. We decided that tying my tubes was the rational response. He had to sever ties with the hospital and check me into a different one do do it. A third pregnancy carried more than 4 months would most likely kill me, so depending on the pill or barrier methods was stupid. And I am _not_ Catholic. I was amazingly lucky to find a doc that was willing to tie the tubes of an unmarried woman in her early 20s. In my late 40s I was lucky enough to get an ovarian tumor that let me get an hysterectomy, I have been fighting PCOS and horrible, horrible debilitating periods and been told year after year that ‘it was normal for PCOS, just deal with it’ until I found a doc that was willing to give me supressive drugs for the last 3 years I had the requisite organs. I would love for all the damned male doctors to have to go through PCOS that was that debillitating and tell women _then_ to just deal with it. Like some female comic said back in the 70s that if men had to deal with menstruation and pregnancy that finding a way to turn it off entirely until you actually wanted to have a kid would be more important than the Manhattan Project was in WW2. [I really loved bleeding out a documentable ounce of fluid every couple hours, with cramps that rival labor and being told to suck it up and deal with it. Bah.] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-use-the-pill-instead-of-other-birth-control-methods/613006.md?page=4)