withdrawal

Birth Control Bingo

Click through a series of detailed questions to narrow down your own best methods, become a pro on what method your partner is using, or windowshop in-depth info pages on each contraceptive option. With 25 integrated pages of teen and twentysomething-specific information, plenty of links, questions and answers, we've done our very best to help you protect yourself from unwanted pregnancy.

Why do I feel like I want a baby right now?

Emily asks:

I'm 18 years old, going on 19 and have been with my boyfriend for 2 years who is the same age. I lost my virginity to him and have never wanted any other person besides him. When we first started having sex, I was completely afraid of getting pregnant. I once thought I was pregnant and contemplated throwing myself down the stairs, though now I would never do such a thing. Now that we've been together for so long, and plan on being together for a long time to come, I've been having very strange thoughts.

I'll be in a store, and look at baby clothes or a book store and see baby books and think "Oh, it's baby stuff. I wish I had a little one of my own." Right now, my boyfriend and I live together, he goes to college and works part time and I just work. I have no clue what I want to do yet, so we decided to move and let him go to school since he had it all planned out.

He pulled out, but now I'm late

Candy asks:

Hey, I had my last period on the 8th of April. My boyfriend and I had sex on the April 21st, but he pulled out before he came. Now, I'm 2 days late for my period! I am freaking out big time, could I be pregnant? I checked the net for all the early pregnancy symptoms but none of them apply to me. I've noticed that the past week I've not had a lot of the usual discharge, but on the day my period was due I did have a lot of white discharge and the next day as well. Please reassure me! When should I really panic?

A cornucopia of "Can I get pregnant if...?"

Scared asks:

Does precum contain enough sperm to get you pregnant if you have sex when its present? Also, if the guy pulls out and the cum gets all over your vagina and the a few minutes later he re-enters you, is that a pregnancy risk? My friends have told me that it's impossible, but I don't know. I'm scared, please help!

He was going to pull out...but he didn't, and I feel bad taking Plan B.

Stacey asks:

My boyfriend and I have been together for about 2 months and we just started having sex. He was my first and I am completely in love with him. We've been protected for 4 of the times with a condom, but tonight we didn't use one. He was about to pull out right before, but he came. I'm really scared that I could become pregnant and I know that one of my friends has the "morning after" pill, but I feel bad taking it. I am so worried and confused. HELP ME!

But then he put a condom on, is there still a risk?

Griz asks:

So this all started a month ago, I had been on my period for five days and I had sex with my boyfriend during my period. Around four days later we had sex again. Then we had it once more a week after. He usually goes in me for like 15-30 seconds without a condom, and then he puts a condom on. We've been thinking that I am pregnant, but instead of going anywhere to get checked, we're just waiting for me to get my period, because he thinks he didn't pre-ejaculate and I didn't know you couldn't feel pre-ejaculation until I read other peoples questions and your answers. We're just so afraid that I might be pregnant. We're both young and not ready for a baby. I AM SO SCARED! I can't even explain I have a bright future ahead of me. Is there a possibility I can be pregnant? I am going to keep waiting for my period its supposed to come next week, but what do I do? I am so afraid to even think about it. PLEASE HELP ME!!!! What are early signs of pregnancy?

We're having unprotected sex; can I get pregnant?

vanessaa.xo asks:

My boyfriend and I have been having unprotected sex a couple times a day. I'm positive he blew his load inside of me once. But the other times, he pulled out, cummed outside, which was still on my vaginal and clit area, and then put it back it, and continued intercourse until he got soft. Can this get me pregnant?

My boyfriend is sure he's a pulling-out champ, but I think I'm pregnant.

Holly asks:

My boyfriend is 31 years old and seems to think he is a pro at pulling out during sex. However I have been really tired and sometimes nauseous lately, plus more hungry than normal. A friend of mine who had a baby just a few days ago told me I'm probably pregnant... What do you think? I need answers ASAP!!

Water-only diet plus pregnancy risk -- why is my bleeding so off?!

Andi asks:

Ok. So, I'm 19 and have been sexually active for 2 years. I have always had irregular periods since I started but my doctor says that it is normal. I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend but he pulled out and about three seconds later, he ejaculated. I saw it start and stop. After, he took a shower, I used the restroom and we didn't touch down there the rest of the night or next day. Even though I am irregular, I estimated my period to start about two weeks ago however, i wasn't very concerned because I've been known to go up to 70 days between periods, again my doctor says its fine. My cycles normally last about five days with a normal to heavy flow. Three days ago i got brown discharge that I assumed meant the start of my period. But the brown discharge has been continous and I've only had a spot of blood. No cramps or anything. I have started a new diet where I only drink water and i am an intense caffiene drinker, could this be affecting my period and making me have brown spots rather than blood?? OR How likely is it that i am pregnant???? I haven't taken a pregnancy test yet, but I plan to. I just want to know your opinon before i do take the test. I need advice immediately!!

Sex today, period the next -- still pregnant?

Maryann asks:

My boyfriend and I had sex last night around 11pm, and he said that he believes he came a little inside me. I didn't felt anything inside me when he took it out. Now I am kind of worried not knowing if I can possibly be pregnant or not. Today, around 4pm I just have my period. Now my concern is how long can the sperms take for a woman to become pregnant? Can there still be a possibility for me to be pregnant after my period the following day?

I don't want to have sex for religious reasons.... I think.

Ashley asks:

For the past few months my period hasn't been normal. I'll go weeks or sometimes a whole month without it. I am currently in a relatively new relationship (about 2 months now) and we've had sex a few times, but he pulls out right before. I know about the risk of pre-ejaculate and such, but how possible is it to get pregnant from it? Also, I want to start using condoms and while I feel comfortable with him, since we've never brought it up I am bit apprehensive about mentioning it. How can I tell him that if we're going to have sex we need to use condoms? I know it sounds simple and it should be, I'm probably just stressing out about bringing it up over nothing. The thing is that we're both pretty religious people and while I'm more than happy with our sex life, I didn't expect it wouldn't happen so soon. So, the dilemma is do I mention the condoms? Or should we quit having sex because of the way deep down we know we should live and behave. I'm not in anyway saying I don't "want" to have sex.. but I don't know if having sex is the best thing for us now. And if it isn't, how do I go about telling him when we've had sex a few times? (I know this is definitely a personal problem for me, but if you were in my position.. what do you think you'd do?)

Another quick one, in my last relationship that lasted 4 years, my boyfriend who was 27 and I would have sex, either vaginally or orally, and he could only become aroused and ejaculate once. With the person I am with now (who is 31) he'll get aroused and ejaculate and an hour later he's ready to go again. Is it just different in every person? Thanks so much for your time.

I need EC NOW, but I can't get it in my country.

nanelline asks:

My boyfriend and I had intercourse last night without protection and he accidentally ejaculated inside. I got my period on Monday, November 5th, so I am not sure whether or not I might end up pregnant since it's almost been a week and usually when a girl has intercourse during her period it has been proven to tend to accelerate the period process during sex, which causes the period to stop. Right now I am barely bleeding, in fact I think it's only residues what I have and that the flow has completely stopped since the pad is not stained. He told his sister about the Emergency Contraceptives and she tried to get some, calling hospitals to see if they had any, the few she called said no, I live in the Republic of Panama, so the selling of those drugs might not be as available as in the United States. So lastly, she suggested to her brother for me to take Provera pills, which are supposed to enable bleeding and will not let me get pregnant; she has taken it to induce her periods before.

24 hours have not passed since the occurrence, but at around late 5 or early 6 am today it would have been 24 hours. I have two pills, I've been told to take them both at once. My boyfriend's friend called up a friend of his that has used it successfully as an emergency contraceptive and he also called another friend, a nurse, that confirmed it could be used that way. My boyfriend too, spoke with a general doctor who claimed that in this case the possibilities of me getting pregnant are small, however that the Provera would indeed help. I am however very skeptical, afraid, and worried about any side effects or whether it will prevent a pregnancy. I have researched about the side effects and don't feel good about the fact that they advise a prescription from a doctor and the side effects seem to be pretty negative and I have learned that Provera was used once as a pregnancy test. But I am extremely concerned that I have just finished my period, and so is it possible in any way to already have a period and have it extended as a result of a pill and much less have it confirm or debunk a possible pregnancy?

Please let me know as soon as possible whether or not to take these two pills! I don't know what else I can do! My parents cannot know and I don't want to have to abort! Thanks a million!

Are we using condoms properly?

Brownie asks:

Alright, so me and my boyfriend had sex for the first time yesterday. It was my first time ever having sex, but I was confident about it. We used a condom and he is very safe about it. As well, during sex he does not have an orgasm and will pull out for my comfort of mind. He makes sure there are no holes in them and uses them how he is told. However, I have a few questions.
1) How protective is a condom?
2) As another precaution, I made sure that he ejaculated BEFORE we engaged in sex at all. This we did in the morning at about 8:00AM and had sex at around 3:30PM. What are the chances of pregnancy using this method as well as a condom and pulling out?
3) I am making sure I start going on the pill or the patch, but do not know much about either. Which is more recommended and why?

I know that I seem paranoid taking so many precautions, but I do not want to continue having sex until I have made sure of as many contraceptive ideas as possible.

No pill, no condom, and now, no period.

Debra asks:

I typically start my period at the end of a month and then it continues to lead into the next month. Last month, I ended on the 4th and then had another period in that same month on the 21st-26th. This month, I have yet to have a period. My periods are a little irregular seeing as there have been a few months where I have technically had 2.. but I'm starting to get worried about my late or missed period for this month. I have been sexually active with my boyfriend for over 2 years and for about a year, we haven't used a condom and I'm not on the pill. My boyfriend never actually ejaculates in me, so I was wondering what the chances are of being pregnant from pre-cum alone, and what the chances would be if he hadn't recently ejaculated before intercourse.
As of now, I'm about 5 days late for my period and I have some brown spotting that you typically see at the end of a period, however, I don't feel as though O'm going to start like I usually do. I've had some pains here and there but nothing else. All I'm getting is this brown spotting.

Pill + Condoms = Effective Enough?

Teenie asks:

I'm 18 and i've JUST started having sex. I've done the deed 3 times and I've done all this research about fertility detection, rhythm method, and effectiveness of condoms and the pill. I've been on the pill for 2 years for acne reason and I've used a condom every session without slippage or breakage. I try to refrain from the days I'm supposed to be most fertile, or having sex the week before ovulation for example. But all information is different. I hear sperm can last from 5 to 7 days but then I hear 2 - 3 days: which is it?!

My mum's a public health nurse and she's always said that condoms dont always work: does that mean if they slip or break? I've been really careful about my pill lately, making sure I take it every day but the times aren't always consistent: it's usually between 8am and 3pm. I also take zoloft for other reasons: does that ruin the effectiveness of the pill?? My significant other and I also use withdrawl every time: but using the condom and pill as well I still worry lol but is there still a chance I could become pregnant. I'm prety confident for taking all these extra precautions, but I would still like to know if that's ok.