an update, and is this true?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2007
an update, and is this true?
2
Tue, 03-27-2007 - 9:40am

I have been on my new pill portia for 2 weeks now and I have not been depressed and I have not had any bleeding. So I am thinking that it is working out for me.

BUT- I thought that I knew how the pill worked, I thought that it stopped you from ovulating. I am not catholic but I do believe that life begins at conception. I know that the doctor gave me this pill because I was having so much bleeding that this pill thins the lining of the uterus, but I guess I didn't realize that prevents implantation.

So- is this true:
2) Most birth control pills act in 3 ways
-Stop Ovulation (but there is no knowing how often it does actually stop completely ALL ovulation)
-Stop the sperm from reaching the egg (which is helpful if the first method fails)
-Stop the fertilized egg from implanting on the uterus

Because since I believe that life begins at conception (ie- sperm meets egg) and I personally would not want to end that life, I really don't know what to do now. I told dh that he needs to get a vasectomy.

Now I am not saying anyone is wrong for what they believe, I am just saying me personally.

Help?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2005
Tue, 03-27-2007 - 10:48am

The combination pill is highly efficient at preventing ovulation. The pill also thickens the cervical mucous to prevent sperm from reaching egg. So, in order for fertilization to occur, both of those mechanisms would have to fail, *and* you would have to have sex within about a 3 day fertile window, *and* sperm would have to meet egg, which doesn't always happen even in the fertile window.

Now, the pill does cause the lining of the uterus to change, and become thinner. Some scientists have theorized that this changed lining might be hostile to a fertilized egg, and the egg might fail to implant. However, this is currently only a theoretical possibility. It is a difficult mechanism to study because ovulation is hard to detect, but the studies that I have read on it have stated that the number of ovulations and the number of pregnancies is so close, that it is entirely possible that implantaion failure does not actually occurr in the real world.

The medical community generally does not consider this abortion or miscarriage (spontaneous abortion), because abortion cannot occurr until a pregnancy is established, which means the egg implanting in the uterus, which often doesn't happen even in women not on hormonal birth control.

However, if even this very, very, very remote (possibly non existant) mechanism is unacceptable to you, you might want to consider adding NFP techniques to your contraception regiment, or switching to a non-hormonal method.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2007
Tue, 03-27-2007 - 11:03am

Thank you!!!

I did get pregnant on ortho tricyclen lo before and my baby was fine (and he obviously implanted). So I am considering switching back to that instead of this stronger pill.

Anyway, thank you for your response.

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