This is a big claim that needs a citation. What’s the source? “Babies born to couples who met while on the pill are more infection-prone, require more medical care, suffer from a higher frequency of common sicknesses, and are perceived as generally less healthy than children whose parents met while not on the pill.”
There are increasingly surprising (to me!) links around how hormonal contraceptives affect the behaviour of women taking them and the behaviour of people interacting with those women (and that's a clear mechanism by which you get effects on offspring).
My point is not that we should never use hormonal contraceptives, but that we need to make sure the benefits and risks of their use are properly communicated to the people who are taking them.
Very very interesting information about how hormones can affect your choice in a mate but the advice to avoid it is incredibly reductive. For many the copper coil isn’t an alternative to pills ! The copper iud increases blood loss and cramping during periods and is a painful insertion- whereas hormonal IUDs like the mirena actually can make periods completely disappear- making it a better choice for those seeking relief due to endometriosis or other painful Conditions. Plus, pills are easier to take than inserting an IUD especially for women who haven’t yet had children. There isn’t a good non hormonal alternative available to women- more research needs to be done to give women real choices and treatments!!
Yeah, that's very fair. It's hard to cover all the available contraceptive advice in an article that's about setting children up for better immune health. :)
You're absolutely right - there needs to be far better options for women to avoid pregnancy. Thanks for sharing!
This is a big claim that needs a citation. What’s the source? “Babies born to couples who met while on the pill are more infection-prone, require more medical care, suffer from a higher frequency of common sicknesses, and are perceived as generally less healthy than children whose parents met while not on the pill.”
From the abstract of the last citation: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-016-0074-4
Thanks Tommy!
There are increasingly surprising (to me!) links around how hormonal contraceptives affect the behaviour of women taking them and the behaviour of people interacting with those women (and that's a clear mechanism by which you get effects on offspring).
A recent review, for example, looked at why women who've ever taken hormonal contraceptives are at increased risk of violent and accidental death: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.667563/full
My point is not that we should never use hormonal contraceptives, but that we need to make sure the benefits and risks of their use are properly communicated to the people who are taking them.
Very very interesting information about how hormones can affect your choice in a mate but the advice to avoid it is incredibly reductive. For many the copper coil isn’t an alternative to pills ! The copper iud increases blood loss and cramping during periods and is a painful insertion- whereas hormonal IUDs like the mirena actually can make periods completely disappear- making it a better choice for those seeking relief due to endometriosis or other painful Conditions. Plus, pills are easier to take than inserting an IUD especially for women who haven’t yet had children. There isn’t a good non hormonal alternative available to women- more research needs to be done to give women real choices and treatments!!
Yeah, that's very fair. It's hard to cover all the available contraceptive advice in an article that's about setting children up for better immune health. :)
You're absolutely right - there needs to be far better options for women to avoid pregnancy. Thanks for sharing!