beth@umcp-cs.UUCP (04/05/84)
A week or so ago, I asked for stories from people about how soon they managed
to get pregnant after taking the Pill. Several answers are summarized below.
Most of the responses indicated that either the author or a close friend had
little difficulty in getting pregnant. One woman was on the pill for 10 years.
They waited the suggested three months and then got pregnant immediately. She
said Planned Parenthood advisors say that your system is clear of the hormones
after one week but that waiting three months lets you date the pregnancy. I
had two other respondents who conceived within the first month of trying.
Several people said that it took a year of trying, but they finally succeeded.
One person is still trying, but she has endometriosis. There are people who
will have a difficult time getting pregnant regardless of what kind of birth
control method they used previously.
As far as methods of contraception used while waiting three months, some people
switched permanently to the diaphram once they found how easy it was to use.
Others thought even the diaphram wasn't great. One couple switched to an IUD
and, two weeks after it was removed, got pregnant. A few people were using
foam and condoms and didn't like it at all.
From these responses, it seems that many of us won't have problems getting
pregnant. However, no scientific studies (as far as I know) have been done in
this area, particularly on the very long term effects of the Pill. As a friend
said, "The women of America are involved in one big experiment on the long-term
effects of the Pill." I'm not married, but when I am and want to get pregnant,
I'll probably switch to a diaphram. But my family is fertile. My brother was
conceived while my mother was nursing my sister full-time on demand.
Thanks for the response. I hope this info can help some people. Remember to
ask your gynecologist what he/she thinks about this if you are worried. Most
of them I have asked say, "No problem." One decided I could switch to a pill
with a lower dose of estrogen. I've always found it helps to ask a lot of
questions. It's your body.
--
Beth Katz, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Computer Science Dept.
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!beth
ARPA: beth@maryland CSNET: beth@umcp-cs