Nuvaring - Birth Control
When I was 15, I went to my doctor and asked her if I needed a PAP test.
She said, are you sexually active? I said I’m not sure… because I had been told there are several different types of sex. She said well has this happened – made the penetration symbol. I said no, so she said then you do not need a PAP test.
When I was 17 and had in fact been sexually active, I went to my doctor to be prescribed birth control. She gave me a birth control pill and sent me along on my merry way informing me that we will try this one out for the next few months and reassess whether it has negative effects on my body.
I found that the pill made me gain weight, I was irritable and left me with periods that lasted 3 weeks.
So I took a break from it and returned to the doctor to say, I want to try something new and I have heard about this Ring. She said OK, I will prescribe you the Nuvaring.
This product is not from Canada, it was developed in the Netherlands. I chose it because it is relevant to my life and something that I am very passionate about – sexual health education. While I was not privy to thorough sex ed growing up, it is getting better in Canada, yet is highly dependant on the school you happen to attend. While Canada is relatively quite liberal in terms of talking about sex, we have a long way to go and in my experience facilitating workshops in schools, there is a need for more accurate information to be transmitted to young people, especially when the internet can provide people with so much false information.
It slowly secretes progestin and estrogen for three weeks before it is removed upon which you get your period. I like it because the hormones are localized to where they need to be and I do not have to remember to take a pill every day that goes through my entire digestive system. There is also a lot of responsibility associated with taking the pill and whenever something went wrong with my body as I mentioned above I always blamed it on myself and my inability to stick to a routine that kept me healthy and baby free. I have not experienced averse side effects from the Ring.
I would like to ask if any of the guys, at 16 years old, thought to themselves, prior to having sex, I must make a doctor’s appointment?
If no is the general consensus, I can infer that you didn’t subsequently patiently wait a few months to see if the hormones in my body will mess with my already hormonal teenage self further.
In sexual health education, we recommend that two forms of contraceptives are used – a barrier method, as well as a contraceptive (a condom and the pill) in case the barrier method falls through.
While I recognize the difficulties associated with attempting to block the reproductive capacity of millions of sperm versus the fertility of one egg, I have a lot of faith in technology and science. Women’s bodies are the ones who have to house a growing fetus for 9 months, while men’s bodies do not, it is interesting that we do not prioritize the wellbeing of the body that needs to be more healthy in order to ensure the health of the baby and instead pump it full of different hormones.
This topic feels very relevant to me because for the last few years, I have been following the development of a male birth control, of which the latest is an injection that occurs every 8 weeks in order to suppress the abilities of sperm to fertilize the egg. The study found the birth control to be 96% effective in 286 couples in preventing pregnancy.
In establishing whether or not this product could finally become available, the WHO recently nixed it due to side effects that include acne, mood disorders, loss of libido and depression, which as many of you know are associated to almost all types of birth control available for women.
This is very clearly a double standard. While history is littered with experiential trials of drugs on women which were at times very hurtful to their health, it seems that the health of women is second rate to the health of men. The steps it took before getting to the point of starting trials on men were clearly many and now that we are at that point, it was too much.
Birth control is a financial commitment in Canada and in a lot of places of the world. There is some hope for the future because recently, a law was passed in Canada that eliminated some of the tax on feminine hygiene products.
I have never had a partner contribute to the cost of my birth control. It is seen as a Women’s issue and something that is dealt with and not as often discussed on an equal playing field. However, the quest of not getting pregnant really includes both parties, and should be treated that way as an investment that both are embarking upon. This might seem utopian, but as a woman, I have frequently purchased condoms and have in fact refused when being offered financial compensation for the money I spend on birth control, as I felt uncomfortable and as though I was denying my responsibility.
Information about birth control is seen as “underground”. Most men are not educated about the realities of birth control in the lives of women. I have some friends who opted for non hormonal birth control such as the IUD which is much better in the long term but can provide horror stories short term of very painful situations. It is easy to zone out when we think things do not affect us, however, there are two people hoping to prevent pregnancy – it is not just the woman and her health should also be a priority.
In conclusion, birth control is something that concerns a goal that both partners are invested in. While it is a relatively new invention that has resulted in much freedom for women, there are many aspects of birth control that should be shared, the health risks, costs and social pressures associated could be improved while we wait for there to be an option for men.
