I started taking the pill in my teens. Most of the girls I knew at my high school were prescribed it, too, whether or not they were sexually active. My doctor told me that there were other benefits aside from preventing ovulation and avoiding pregnancy: It would make my period lighter and the cramps less painful. I could even skip my period altogether by taking it continuously. She also said the pill could lower my risk of ovarian and uterine cancers later in life. Some of my friends took it to alleviate acne. I faithfully refilled my prescription for 20 years, never questioning it, and stopping only when my husband and I started trying for a baby.
We now have two daughters, ages six and four, and no desire for more kids?but for some reason, I?m hesitant to go back on the pill, or any type of hormonal birth control, really. My little pale-pink tablets fulfilled their feminist promise to me?and millions of other women around the world?by giving us control over our fertility and our sex lives. But now that I?ve gone through pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and weaning twice, and I fully understand the influence that hormones have over my body (as well as the havoc they can wreak), I feel like I?m just done messing with mine. I don?t want to ingest synthetic hormones that could contribute to mood swings or weight gain. I?m also more aware of my body than I was in my teens and 20s, and even in my early 30s. Paying attention to my own reproductive cycle suddenly feels impo...