Fact or Fiction? These Birth Control Myths Really Need to Go!

Myths about birth control are as old as birth control itself. Shortly after birth control pills became available in the 1960s, people who objected to it on moral grounds started saying that only sex workers used birth control methods, even though historical records show that people have been using DIY contraceptives since at least the Ancient Egyptian era. They also claimed birth control would destroy marriages and the traditional family structure because women would *gasp* have the right to choose when or whether they wanted to get pregnant. 

While these myths had a clear bias that made them rather easy to dismiss, some of the other misinformation spread about birth control was harder to brush off. 

During the same time period, medical professionals who opposed birth control told the media that some women who’d taken the newly available birth control pills suffered serious health issues like heart problems and cancer. During Congressional hearings on the safety of birth control in the 1970s, experts testified that birth control could cause severe mental health issues like suicidality and psychosis. They also reiterated that birth control could cause cancer. 

These claims were less easy to identify as misinformation, partially because they were being spread by physicians, but also because, like much misinformation, the claims contained a kernel of truth. The first publicly available birth control pills contained extremely high doses of estrogen, which did cause physical and mental health issues for many women. 

Though the Pill was soon reformulated to contain much lower doses of estrogen, the bad reputation birth control pills had garnered in the early years of their availability never went away. Decades later, myths about birth control are still everywhere, and research shows that some of these myths actually stop people from taking birth control. Concerning, right? 

So, let’s play Mythbusters! We’re going to explore some of the common myths about birth control, and let the facts speak for themselves. 

In 2014, researchers at Florida State University published a study that examined how attractive women found their partners when they were taking hormonal birth control versus when they stopped taking it. The results showed that women who stopped using birth control were less satisfied with their sex lives, and that the women whose husbands weren’t as conventionally attractive were even more dissatisfied. The researchers hypothesized that hormonal shifts caused by birth control made women less aware of whether their partner’s faces were conventionally attractive, but when they stopped using birth control, they became more aware of facial attractiveness, and this changed their attraction to their partners. 

This study got a lot of attention in the mainstream press, where the findings got simplified to “birth control changes who you’re attracted to.” Many publications pointed to previous research that showed hormonal birth control could change attraction by changing how we perceive pheromones or even our brain chemistry. 

So, if you’re worried about birth control making you want to swipe right on someone who’s totally not your type, don’t be! There’s no solid proof that your birth control is messing with your Tinder selections.

Critics have long played on people’s fears that hormonal contraceptives could cause difficulties getting pregnant or even total infertility. Unfortunately, this myth is still going strong. A study published in 2023, found that 69% of study participants were concerned about birth control impacting their fertility, and this concern played a role in some participants’ decision to either not take birth control or stop taking it. 

Luckily, multiple decades worth of research has conclusively busted this myth. A review of 22 studies conducted between 1985 and 2017 found that hormonal birth control had absolutely no effect on long term fertility, and that about 83% of study participants were able to get pregnant within a year of stopping birth control. These rates of pregnancy track with the normal rate of infertility, which is about 15%. 

Dr. Lawrence Werlin, a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and renowned fertility specialist, told us, “There have been studies… where they've looked at women who've not used birth control and women who have used birth control... And there don't seem to be any differences. It's not as though having taken birth control will necessarily negatively affect your fertility.” 

He added that it does take some time for your body to return to your normal ovulation cycle after you stop taking birth control. 

After stopping hormonal birth control, it's normal for:

• Ovulation to take a few weeks or months to resume
• Menstrual cycles to temporarily be irregular
• Fertility to return within a year for most people
• Other factors—especially age and egg quality—to play a much larger role in fertility than prior birth control use

Dr. Werlin stressed that, hands down, the most important factors in fertility have nothing to do with birth control – it’s the number of eggs you have and the age of each egg.

“Women are born with all their eggs… by the time you start your first period… 80% of your eggs are gone. And that process goes on every single month, whether you are pregnant, whether you use birth control, it really doesn't matter.”

So, people who do want to get pregnant someday, but want to take birth control in the meantime, aren’t damaging their fertility at all. They just need to remember that the clock is always ticking. 

This is one of the first myths that medical professionals started circulating about birth control. But as with the myth about birth control and infertility, decades of research have shown that this myth isn’t true. 

A comprehensive review of the research into hormonal birth control and health problems published in 2022 revealed that there was absolutely no high-quality evidence linking any form of cancer to hormonal birth control. The review also found no evidence for a link between birth control and cardiovascular problems, another common myth that goes all the way back to the earliest days of birth control. 

That being said, both Dr. Roelands and Dr. Werlin both emphasized that birth control can put some people at risk for blood clots, especially people who use tobacco products. So, birth control isn’t totally risk-free. But medical professionals generally agree that the benefits far outweigh the risks for most people. 

This myth is a little more complicated to bust, because it’s one of those myths that has some truth to it. Two narratives contribute to this myth: 

1. Birth control kills your libido. 
2. Birth control can make sex painful.

Let’s dig a little deeper to separate fact from fiction. 

Several studies have found that a significant percentage of people taking hormonal birth report that their libido decreased after starting birth control. However, like attraction, libido is a complicated thing. It can be impacted by so many factors, it’s hard to determine if hormonal birth control actually causes changes in sex drive. Research has also found that even though people reported decreased libido, they didn’t report decreased satisfaction with sex! So, if birth control does decrease your sex drive, it won’t ruin your sex life. 

Now let’s talk about painful sex after starting hormonal birth control. Unfortunately, for some people, there is a pretty clear link between hormonal birth control and painful sex.

Dr. Michael Reed, a cosmetic gynecologist with over two decades of experience in gynecological care, explained, “Hormonal birth control, especially low-estrogen formulations, can sometimes cause vaginal dryness or thinning of the vaginal tissue, which can lead to discomfort or pain during sex. It can also throw off the vaginal microbiome, making some women more prone to irritation or infections. It’s one of those things we don’t talk about enough, but it’s real and valid.”

Dr. Roelands added that research is now revealing that the vaginal microbiome, the balance of good bacteria in each individual vagina, has a lot more to do with vaginal and vulvar pain than physicians knew. 

And you can always talk to your doctor about switching the type of contraceptive you’re taking! Hormonal birth controls don’t all function or affect your body in the same way. Your body will react differently to a birth control pill with estrogen and progestin than it will to a birth control pill with only progestogen or the NuvaRing or Nexplanon, the implant. The hormones in IUDs like the Mirena, Liletta, Skyla, and Kyleena are absorbed more locally within the uterus, so they might not impact your body the same way as other hormonal contraceptives because less of the hormones make it into your bloodstream. 

Though taking hormonal birth control can negatively impact your sex life, it certainly doesn’t have to ruin it! And you don’t have to deal with these negative impacts long term. You can work with your doctor to find ways to address whatever issues arise so you can enjoy sex and keep taking your birth control.

There’s a lot of misinformation about birth control out there, but hopefully we’ve helped you separate fact from fiction. And that’s it for this edition of Mythbusters!