According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly 65% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 used contraceptives from 2015-17. Even though many of these people use birth control to prevent pregnancy, students at Aragon use oral contraceptives to solve a variety of problems.
Senior Savannah Haley uses Blisovi to regulate her acne and period pains.
“[Birth control] really just saves me like pain and time in the morning, like I can just go to school with bare face and I’m not self conscious,” Haley said. “Birth control was really important for my confidence. … I can focus more on my work rather than thinking about what people think about me because I had so much acne.”
Haley recounts her process of starting birth control.
“I went to my doctor and she gave me the one she prescribed me. [She said] if it doesn’t work or it’s not a high enough dosage, come back to me and we will prescribe you the next one,” Haley said.
Haley describes the trial-and-error process many people might go through when beginning to use birth control.
“There is something out there for everyone, but you sort of have to try it for a couple weeks. It can become frustrating and makes people impatient,” Haley said. “[You need to] be patient with it, and I think the results are amazing.”
Senior Madison Campbell started using Tri-Lo-Sprintec, a popular birth control drug, in her sophomore year.
“Freshman year, I had cystic acne and I went on Accutane at first and that pretty much cleared my skin, but the side effects of Accutane can be pretty intense,” Campbell said. “My dermatologist suggested that I started to take birth control … then I also found out that I was anemic and I started losing a lot of blood from my period.”
When she was initially prescribed birth control, Campbell had mixed feelings about it.
“I was really hesitant to take it just because there’s a stigma around it,” Campbell said.
According to Family Planning Organization, more than half of studied 16 to 24-year-olds described birth control as heavily stigmatized.
Junior Cynthia** plans to use birth control to prepare for college life, as well as for her acne and sexual activity.
“I think [the stigma is] kind of silly … because [birth control] is something you can take, regardless of whether or not you are sexually active,” Cynthia said. “Whether you’re pro-abortion or anti-abortion, you obviously don’t want an unplanned pregnancy. … It’s something that can help women who are sexually assaulted.”
Aside from the stigma surrounding birth control, Campbell had other concerns about using it.
“Most of the [information] online [about birth control] is pretty negative,” Campbell said. “Every single article I read said that ‘It’s good, but you’re going to gain weight, and you’re not going to be able to control your emotions.’ My skin was just something that I was really insecure about, and I knew I couldn’t go back on Accutane, so this was one of the [only options] that I had left.”
According to Planned Parenthood, symptoms people may experience are nausea, headaches and change in weight during the first few months of using birth control.
“When I first went on [birth control], I noticed that I was having a lot of mood swings, and it made me a lot more irritable and made me lose a lot of weight,” Campbell said. “But that was mainly just the beginning and when my body was like getting used to it.”
Junior Addy Cornwall is looking to use birth control in the near future in order to stop having their period.
“I’d be worried about accentuating feminine parts, but that’s why I’m looking into [types] that specifically caters to not doing that,” Cornwall said.
Cornwall is still in the early stages of planning to use birth control.
“I haven’t really talked to [my parents] about [birth control] yet, but I imagine since I have a sister older than me by eight years who has been taking it for a while, that they will be generally supportive,” Cornwall said.
On the other hand, Cynthia describes her family’s views on birth control.
“My parents are both super Christian and conservative. They’re very anti-abortion,” Cynthia said. “My mom’s mostly okay with [it] … [but] my dad’s definitely [not] because he thinks that [birth control will] encourage sexual activity.”
Pew Research Center found that teenage sexual activity remains constant regardless of birth control use, and suggests that increased use of birth control has caused the decline in young pregnancies.
Birth control also needs to be taken consistently every single day at the same time to work effectively, which can be inconvenient.
“I take mine around 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., and I have to take it between that hour in order for it to be effective. It takes time to get the results that you want. … It took me probably three or four weeks, I would say, to start to get the results for my skin,” Haley said. “And you have to be very consistent every day and I know for some people it’s hard to remember to take a pill every day at the same time. So, [there are] other forms [of birth control] and that’s what’s really good about birth control, you can get it is so many different forms. It’s like really adjustable to each person.”
With all of its side effects, it can be hard for people to feel that birth control is worth it.
“I think there are a lot of benefits for it. There are a lot of different uses for it. For me: clear skin and regular blood flow. And also just like it prevents you from getting pregnant,” Campbell said. “It’s pretty effective. And I guess some of the only drawbacks about it are the side effects … and [convenience].”
**Students names have been changed to protect their privacy.
