People may use birth control for several reasons. Perhaps a man and woman wish to have only a few children so they will have enough money to give those children good food, clothes, and education. More children might mean less for each child, so the parents use birth control to limit the number of children they have. Or maybe a man and woman do not want any children at all in order to focus on their own lives, jobs, or each other. Other couples may use birth control to make sure that they do not have too many children in too short a time, an idea that is called "spacing" their children. This may help them take better care of their children. Still another reason is that a young couple may not be able to afford having a baby until they are older and have more money or better jobs. This may be especially true of younger people who are still in school and probably not married. By using birth control, the couple can grow closer and strengthen their relationship by having sexual intercourse frequently so that when they are ready to have a baby their relationship is strong and stable. In most of these cases the man and woman want to have sex to be close, to feel good with each other, and to make their relationship stronger. Contraception lets them have intercourse while greatly reducing the chances of a pregnancy.
Birth control may be used by married couples, or by couples who live together but are not married, or by a man and woman who are engaged, or by a couple who are merely boyfriend and girlfriend, or even by single people who are not in a relationship at all but who may have casual sex with others.
There are many types of birth control. Some of these have been done for a long time, but many of them were only discovered in the last eighty years. Each type of birth control has advantages and disadvantages. Another word for a type of contraception is a "method".
A "barrier" is something that stands between two things. So barrier methods stand between the sperm and the ovum (egg). Some barrier methods help prevent many sexually transmitted diseases (STDs):
Some barrier methods only protect a small amount against STDs:
Barrier methods can be easy to use and have few side effects (bad things that happen if you take a medicine). Some of them can be bought without a doctor's prescription. Since they are easy to get and can help stop disease from spreading from one partner to the other, they are popular with younger couples or those who are early in a relationship. But sometimes they can be messy or interfere with the pleasure and sensation of sex.
These can only be used by women. Doctors are trying to find a way to use hormonal methods for men. Hormonal methods change the woman's reproductive cycle in different ways so that it is safe for her man to ejaculate inside her.
Hormonal birth control is extremely effective if it is used in the right way. Many hormonal birth control methods also make women's menses shorter and with less bleeding, which most women like. And unlike barrier methods, hormonal methods do not interfere with sex. When a woman is using hormonal birth control, she and her man are usually not even aware of it during intercourse, which seems and feels very natural. The couple can have sex at any time they wish; they don’t need to interrupt foreplay to put birth control in place, and they can feel the physical sensations and emotional closeness of intercourse without interference from a make or female condom. Unlike coitus interruptus (see below), when a woman is on the Pill or using some other form of hormonal birth control, intercourse usually ends with her man reaching orgasm while inside the vagina, which both the man and woman usually find very pleasurable. For all of these reasons, hormonal methods are very popular, especially with women who are married or in steady relationships who are having sex often.
Hormonal birth control methods have some slight risks for side effects. They may make a very small increase in the risk of blood clots in the lungs, strokes, heart attacks, and breast cancer. Most of these risk are small. Some women may experience mood swings, weight gain, or loss of sex drive. Sometimes, but rarely, these side effects are serious enough to make a woman decide to stop using hormonal birth control.
This is where an object is put in the woman's uterus (womb, where the fetus grows when she is pregnant). This object is called an "intrauterine device" or IUD (acronym).
There are two types of IUD: the copper IUD or an IUD with hormones implanted on it. The hormonal IUD has better protection against pregnancy but costs more.
There are many good things about them:
The worst part about IUDs is that they have to be put in by a doctor. There is some risk of infection of the uterus after the IUD is put in, but this is only for 1-2 months after.
Copper IUDs can also be used as a "day-after" method to prevent pregnancy after the woman and man already had sex.
IUDs do not prevent STDs.
This is when a man or woman has surgery to make them not able to make babies.
Men can get a "vasectomy". This is a small surgery where the tube that carries sperm from the testicles is cut.
Women can get "tubal" surgeries. These are ways that the fallopian tubes are cut or clipped so that eggs cannot go down them to the uterus. (The fallopian tube is the tube that carries the egg from the woman's ovary).
Sterilization is extremely effective, and they allow a man and woman to have intercourse that seems and feels very natural. But sterilization does involve surgery, which can cost more than other types of contraception and can be unpleasant, and unlike other methods it is very hard to reverse if a couple changes their minds and want to have children later.
Other surgeries will make a woman sterile (not able to get pregnant). These are not done only for contraception, but they are done for other reasons.
These have been used for a very long time. They were used before modern medicine. Some of them were used before scientists even discovered how "reproduction" (making babies) happens.
Many methods can reduce the risk of STDs, but only abstinence is 100% effective.
This means a man and a woman practice abstinence (not having sex) when the woman is fertile. When the woman is not fertile, she will not get pregnant when she has sex.
This is when a woman is breastfeeding (using her breasts to make milk for her baby). There are certain rules the woman can use to know if she is not fertile. Chances that this method will fail are about 10% (which means 10% chance she can get pregnant)
Induced abortion (sometimes called just "abortion") is when a doctor gives a pregnant woman a medicine or does a surgery to stop the pregnancy. Some people do not call abortion a kind of contraception. This is because contraception means preventing pregnancy, but abortion is stopping a pregnancy that has already started.
Abortion is not a good birth control method. If a woman does not want to get pregnant, other methods are more safe and inexpensive (cost less money). So many doctors who do abortions for women help women find a better way to not get pregnant the next time.
Some religions do not like contraception. Some of them teach that contraception is a sin.
Religions ideas about contraception:
Religious beliefs that contraception is a sin also keep people from doing "safe sex". Some groups who are opposed to this belief say it is dangerous in places where there is a lot of HIV and AIDS, because condoms make people much less likely to get HIV, but at the same times many feel that they can practice extra marital sex since they are "safe" from HIV/AIDS.
These may be unsimple:
Role-playing game
A role-playing game (also called an RPG) is a game in which one plays the role of one or several characters (people), either verbally (traditional RPGS), in a computer or video game, or alone (gamebooks). Often the characters gain experience (EXP) during the game, which makes them stronger.