There is a lot of chatter on social media these days about birth control and infertility. Specifically, there are claims that using birth control for a long time makes it harder for people to get pregnant (or may cause them to experience infertility) when they stop using birth control. Here’s what we know: using birth control (for any period of time) does not make it harder to get pregnant later.
Birth control prevents pregnancy in several ways. For example, by stopping ovaries from releasing eggs and thickening cervical mucus so sperm have a harder time reaching an egg and fertilizing it. But another important thing to know is birth control works best in a routine.
There are some methods that work for years after they are inserted into your body (such as the IUD or the implant, and you don’t have to do anything for these methods to work). But other methods only work if you remember to use them on a schedule (such as the pill, which you take every day, or the ring/the patch, which you change every few weeks). If you miss a pill, for example, you can get pregnant right away. It’s a good idea to use additional method (such as condoms) for added pregnancy protection if you miss a dose or if your birth control routine is interrupted and you do not want to get pregnant.
Research makes clear that using hormonal birth control (for any amount of time) doesn’t make it harder to get pregnant when you stop using it. If you have more specific questions about fertility and birth control, make an appointment to talk to a provider at your nearest The Right Time health center.