I am pregnant/alive/successful today, because of birth control

I am pregnant today because when I was 16 years old, my dad brought me to the OBGYN and my doctor (who I hope to have deliver my baby this summer!) put me on hormonal birth control.



I am lucky that my condition in on the mild end of the spectrum but without treatment, I would be in regular, extreme pain - think appendicitis, unable to move or function pain that lasts for anywhere from 10-24 hours almost EVERY MONTH. But that's the good part. Without treatment, I would most likely be infertile today and my risk for ovarian cancer (which leads to such insignificant symptoms as death) would be through the roof.

Because my doctor, who not only went to medical school but then completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology (that's 8 years of training after a bachelor's degree for those of you playing the home game), ran some pretty simple/cheap tests (ultrasound and a blood draw) and then prescribed a relatively cheap drug, the benefits of which out weighed the risks, I have not only been able to lead a functional adult existence, but I was able to protect my fertility so that now I can be pregnant and hopefully be able to become a parent to a very much loved baby.

You know what else birth control helped me do? Not be a teen mom for starters. Because, having been a teen and worked with teens, I can tell you that 1. teens have sex and 2. being a teen parent sucks for everyone (not that I haven't seen a lot of strong, resilient young men and women successfully parent as teenagers and lots of adults have a sucky time of parenthood, but lets be real - on a population basis, teen parenthood has a lower statistical likelihood of success). Me not having become a teen mom is pretty sweet by itself for me, for my family, and for society. But that's not all.

Without birth control, I would not have had the ease and flexibility in determining when I got pregnant. Let's forget the whole 'years of premarital sex with folks who I would not have wanted to have co-parented with' and skip to my GOP Sanctioned Heterosexual Marriage to Boybee. I've been married for 5 years now - Boybee and I, we have sex. We had sex while we were in grad school and lived off beans and rice because Ramen noodles were too expensive. We continued to have sex when Boybee was laid off and we were seriously afraid that we would lose our house. We continued to have sex when we didn't have good health insurance and even when we both felt that we were just not ready to take on the responsibilities of parenthood. And you know what? Having a baby then would not have been the end of the world, but man... I don't even like to think of the consequences.

Birth control also let me have the incredible privilege of making it this far in life and never having to had face an unintended pregnancy. I have never had to seriously consider having an abortion. I have never had to seriously consider carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term. I know now that my body and pregnancy aren't exactly best buds and I don't think I would have survived those first 4 months of daily barfing and constant discomfort without the hope and happiness that I feel because I am making a person who I am so excited to meet and love.

I believe strongly in a woman's right to choose abortion, but I've seen women make that choice. I've held their hands while they have the procedure and while they watch as some other woman takes their baby home. I've supported women while they cried before, during, and sometimes after abortions, adoptions, and those horrible moments of trying to parent when they're not in any way prepared or supported. It's not pretty. It's not a choice women make lightly. I am privileged that I've never had to make that choice for myself. Birth control gave me that privilege.