SEX AND CONTRACEPTION: FORMS OF CONTRACEPTION
Before any sort of sexual interaction with another person, it’s a good idea to find out all you can about sexually transmitted diseases so you can avoid them. Before heterosexual intercourse it is imperative that you know how pregnancy starts, so that if you choose not to have a baby you can avoid that too.
Sharing the responsibility for contraception and choosing what’s right for you and your partner is a part of sexual communication. Contraception means facing your sexuality together and talking honestly about what you want.
There is this myth that it is the responsibility of the woman not to get pregnant. Well, she can only ever be responsible for half of the genetic material that goes to make a pregnancy. This means men taking full responsibility for their own genetic material. One of the important things we need to learn is that, just as good sex takes two people giving each other mutual pleasure, reliable contraception takes two people to talk about the alternatives.
Contraceptive needs change according to your life situation and the state of your relationship. Choosing the type of contraception that suits you at any particular time depends on your age, the state of your relationship, and your future plans. Are you planning a baby in twelve months? Do you want children at all? How old is your partner? Do you have more than one partner?
You need to know how reliable the different forms of contraception are, and exactly how to use them. I am continually astounded at the number of women who take the Pill every day, yet could not tell anyone which one they are on. ‘Oh you know, the one in the gold pack with three different colored pills. I don’t know, I just take it.’
Knowing the pitfalls is part of understanding your contraception; being aware, for example, that if you miss just one Pill, especially near the beginning or the end of the pack, you can get pregnant. The same goes for vomiting it up or, in the case of diarrhea, not giving it time to be absorbed into your system. One interesting new method of contraception that overcomes a lot of these difficulties is the vaginal ring, or ‘the Pill you don’t have to take.’ It is a firm, rubbery ring about five centimeters in diameter that contains (I was going to say, ‘ … is impregnated with’) the same hormones that make up the oral contraceptive Pill. This is inserted into the vagina where it stays for three weeks out of every four and is then replaced. It constantly releases the hormones into the system. If it passes all the scientific tests they are doing, it should prove very popular because it is so easy.
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