Health insurance 2022: These 18 states have their own open enrollment periods and websites for signing up for ACA insurance
President Biden has opened the enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act health insurance plans for 2022. You can now enroll in one of these plans until January 15, 2022, at healthcare.gov . However, there are 18 states that have their own insurance marketplaces and their own open enrollment dates. If you live in one […]
I chose sterilization, and I’ve never looked back
In spring of last year, I finally got it: a referral to a surgeon to discuss my sterilization . I prepared my plea ahead of time: I’ve always been sure I don’t want to go through pregnancy and bear a child; if we change our minds, my fiancée (now wife) can have kids biologically; I […]
Why my Mirena is my ride or die
My Mirena and I are best friends. I once struggled with terrible cramps, long periods, and forgetting to take my birth control pill—but the Mirena changed all of that. Three years after first getting my IUD inserted, it remains one of the best health care decisions I have ever made for myself. It took awhile […]
I’ve had my IUD for three years, and I love it more every year
My journey to the IUD was a rocky one. By the time I was 27, I had tried various brands of the birth control pill, which I started when I was 18, but I hadn’t ever found the right fit. From forgetting to take it, to leaving it at home during a weekend trip, to […]
Breaking free from an abstinence-only past
Picture this: a 14-year-old girl is at the peak of body confusion and a hormone tsunami when her mother comes to her school to give a special presentation to her class about why abstinence is the only safe form of birth control. Yep, that was me. Having grown up in a religious household and spent […]
I have a chronic illness and birth control changed my life
My experiences with birth control have been anything but simple and straightforward. Actually, the same can be said for my experiences as a person who has a period. I have a chronic reproductive illness called endometriosis . It took years of bad experiences with my period and birth control to even find out I have […]
Thanks, Birth Control: Why people still say “Yes!” to using condoms
When you hear the words “birth control,” you might immediately think of the pill, intrauterine device (IUD), or implant. But many people still prefer condoms as their go-to method of birth control. We decided to ask some of them why they choose to say #thxbirthcontrol to condoms. 1. The condom is undefeated when it comes […]
Mirena & LILETTA & Kyleena & Skyla & Paragard: A guide to figuring out which IUD is right for you
The IUD. The subject of so many love songs (okay, maybe not real ones, but ones we made up!), and yet it seems so humble. Just a little piece of plastic, but could it be the answer to your birth control prayers? First, the basics : it’s a T-shaped device that a provider places in […]
New mini-pill Slynd will allow users more flexibility in timing
The FDA has approved Slynd , a new version of the mini-pill that will bring much-needed flexibility to mini-pill users. The mini-pill, or the progestin-only birth control pill, is a good option for birth control for people who are not able to use estrogen or prefer not to. Current formulations of the mini-pill have to […]
Fact check: 10 things that aren’t birth control and 17 things that are
Good news and bad news, folks. The bad news is that the following 10 groceries are NOT birth control: Papaya Neem Asafoetida Figs Ginger Smartweed Wild yam Pennyroyal Black cohosh Angelica The good news is that these 17 things ARE proven methods of preventing pregnancy! And if what you’re after is something that doesn’t have […]
