Thinking About Parenting

How can I prevent pregnancy until I'm ready?

You deserve to have the power to decide when and how you want to start your future family. That power starts with awareness. 

The only 100% certain way to avoid pregnancy is to not have sex at all. That’s not realistic. If you aren’t ready to have a child yet, there are several ways to prevent pregnancy. There is no “right” type of birth control. The right birth control is what works best for you and your sexual health.

If you’re going to have sex, using some birth control is better than using nothing at all. Different methods of birth control work in different ways. Here are your birth control options¹:

• Abstinence—Choosing to not have sex.
• IUDs (intrauterine devices)—A small, T-shaped piece of plastic with copper or a hormone that a doctor places inside the uterus. They are very effective at preventing pregnancy. There are two kinds:
  • Copper IUDs release a small amount of copper to prevent sperm from fertilizing an egg. They can last up to 10 years.
  • Hormonal IUDs release a small amount of a hormone called levonorgestrel to prevent pregnancy. Hormonal IUDs last 3 to 8 years, depending on the type.
• Hormonal methods—Most hormonal methods of birth control work by preventing female ovaries from releasing an egg each month, making it less likely that you’ll get pregnant. There are hormonal IUDs and other forms of hormonal birth control, including:
  • Implant (a small rod put under the skin)–can last up to 3 years.
  • Shot–given by a doctor or nurse every 3 months.
  • Patch–worn on the skin and replaced once a week, with 1 week off every month.
  • Ring–put in the vagina and replaced once a month.
  • Birth control pills–taken at the same time every day.
  • Barrier methods—These work by preventing the sperm from getting to the egg. You may have heard of barrier methods like:
  • External (male) condoms (worn on the penis).
  • Internal (female) condoms (placed inside the vagina).
  • Birth control diaphragm (placed inside the vagina).
  • Birth control cervical cap (placed inside the vagina).
  • Birth control sponge (placed inside the vagina).
  • Spermicide (a gel that stops sperm from reaching the egg) can be used alone or with an external condom, diaphragm, or cervical cap.
• Withdrawal (pull-out method)—Pulling out is exactly what it sounds like: pulling the penis out of the vagina before ejaculation. It keeps semen away from the vagina. For withdrawal to work, you must do it right every single time.
• Fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs)—This is sometimes called natural family planning. With FABMs, you learn which days pregnancy is more likely to happen and don’t have sex on those days—or you use another method of birth control. FABMs are not as effective at preventing pregnancy as IUDs or hormonal methods.
  • Permanent birth control (sterilization)—These are options for people who never want to get pregnant or cause a pregnancy:
  • Vasectomy—Cutting or blocking the tubes that carry sperm to the outside of the penis.
  • Tubal ligation (“getting your tubes tied”)—Cutting or blocking the tubes that carry eggs into the uterus.

If you have sex without birth control or if you have sex and the condom breaks, emergency contraception—morning-after pills like Plan B or certain types of IUDs—are also available. You can get some morning-after pills at the drugstore without a prescription. It’s important to take this medication as soon as possible after unprotected sex, otherwise it won’t work as well.

Remember that condoms are the only type of birth control that also helps prevent STDs. Condoms + birth control = extra protection. 

There is no age limit for buying condoms, and you don’t need a prescription to get them. Keep yourself healthy by getting tested for STDs regularly and having honest conversations with the people you hook up with about their sexual history.