Do you think birth control pills have affected your relationships?

I was delighted to have them to use so I didn’t get pregnant at times when it would have been disastrous. As far as I could tell, they did not affect my responsiveness adversely.

I was on the pill for many years, and I don’t remember ever giving it a thought vis a vis my partners, It freed me to be sexual without any fear of consequences.

I was on the pill off and on during the first year of my relationship. I never really liked the way it made me feel, and that created some weird, slightly negative vibes between me and my SO. I don’t remember the specifics of why I got off it, but I did. For whatever reason, I still have a full pack laying around somewhere. I had a similar experience with condoms, without all the hormonal stuff. Sex was definitely more enjoyable when we decided not to use any “protection.”

Oh God! The hours of conversations I had with my girlfriends about the merits of various methods of birth control. Turns out, they were all for naught. We didn’t need it.

I had three long term relationships and obviously they all ended. The fourth started on bc and when she went off after a couple of years, the fun really started. Not only did she have all kinds of menstrual weirdness, but eventually we discovered there had never been any point.

I have no idea how this fits with your research. I would say that being off bc and having children cause a significant set of challenges in my marriage, and I have to wonder if children come earlier where women don’t use bc and if that is what creates difficulties in relationships that may lead to different perceptions of sexual satisfaction.

YES!!! Depo-Provera is EVIL!!! My ex girl has horrible mood swings from this shit. Note to all the ladies – if you are concerned about endometriosis, keep going to a new doctor until one will do exploratory surgery. Yes, they do have “birth control” that accoring to my doctors made endometriosis disappear. Guess what they found a couple years later inside? That’s right! Doctors have NO OTHER WAY to see if you have it, without going in. Kinda sad that we have to doctor shop just to get something taken care of. Treating it doesn’t always work. If you experience pain, I recommend a pelvic pain specialist. That is all.

Wow…..and I just thought we didn’t want to have kids. No one is perfect, so I assume everyone knows there’s something about their partner that could be better, but then no one would ever be in a relationship very long.

@spykenij Maybe don’t be so quick to suggest surgery. Yes, the only way to know if you have it is exploratory surgery. However, this is still surgery, and after mine, it significantly worsened the pain with my endo for 2–3 years, as well as had some serious psychological side effects from the surgery. So what if you don’t know if you have endo – is going on the pill for it when you’d be going on the pill anyway really so horrible? And after they know that you have it, the only treatment other than surgery is to go on the pill. So you’re going to be on the pill either way, and one way (surgery) is significantly more painful, dangerous, and expensive than the other (not having surgery just to see). I wish my doctor hadn’t been so quick to suggest surgery, I wish she had stressed how serious surgery was to me.

Birth control pills have never been an issue with us. My wife and I usually use other forms of birth control, ones that are more readily accessible and less expensive, and not the pill.

I have been with my bf for over a year and oddly enough we always just use condoms… the question itself wasn’t even brought up. I just don’t find it necessary when there are condoms that are fairly effective. And of course in the longer term, if you do end up getting pregnant you know the person will stick around.

Providing financially? Is this the middle ages? I don’t really need someone to provide me financially, thank you very much.

The pill moderates mood swings and makes things more ‘even.’ Maybe that’s why the sexual urges are suppressed, because the hormones aren’t raging.

Some women do experience lower libidos while on the pill. Not sure how #2 fits in, but #3 makes intuitive sense. It stands to reason that reducing the fear of unwanted pregnancy would increase relationship stability because that’s one less thing that the couple has to worry about.

In my experience, taking the pill didn’t really change my feelings towards my partner, but it alleviated worries about pregnancy. I was also less anxious in general while on the pill, but that could be attributed to the fact that my life circumstances (i.e. social well-being and economic security) were better at that time.

All of my friends are on the pill now except for me.. and I believe I’m the only person I know whos in a relationship not on the pill.

To clarify all women in the study had a child with their partners and were no longer on the pill at the time of the study.

1. Yup
2. Nope
3. Nope

Never again.

I don’t use the pill, but rather another form of hormonal contraceptive. I found that my libido did not change, and my attraction to my partner did not change. However, when combined with a certain antidepressant, I experienced low arousal.

I have never had a problem with my sex drive or finding my partner sexy and I have been on the pill for most of the time I have been with him! This makes me wonder, if I came off the pill, would my sex drive be even higher? I don’t think either of us could handle that!!!

I can’t handle myself as it is with sex. We don’t even get to do it often because we both live at home. It is quite horrible.