Okay, thought here would be a good place to share some of the things I have learnt about birth control.

BIRTH CONTROL PILLS

Most doctors will tell women that these are contraceptives and prevent ovulation. This is not always the case. It is believed that birth control pills work in three ways:

a: prevent ovulation
b: prevent conception
c: prevent implantation

The first two are contraceptive. The third is abortaficient.

Therefore, birth control pills need to be marketed as both contraceptives and abortaficients.

Generally they are not regarded as abortaficients because the medical profession regards implantation, not conception, as the beginning of pregnancy.

While it is true that there can be no pregnancy without implantation, this is not an acceptable method of birth control to those who believe that conception is the beginning of life, not implantation, therefore the possible abortaficient nature of hormonal birth control needs to be clearly stated for those who (for whatever reason) do not believe it is right to prevent implantation. Some couples have issues lawsuits for not being told. I don't know if they were successful. It can be traumatic for a couple to realise what they thought was contraceptive may also be abortaficient.

It's thought they prevent implantation by shedding the lining of the womb so that when the zygote tries to implant, it can't. If they do state the abortaficient nature of birth control pills, then they will invariably describe it as "fertilized egg" which is a misleading term as from the moment of conception it is no longer an egg but already dividing and will go through a couple of stages of development by the time it is ready to implant. Split into twins etc can happen before or after implantation, so that is no guide.

Progesterone only pills like the mini pill are thought to have the highest abortaficient rate. There is still some debate over whether the combined oral contraceptive pill works as an abortaficient.

I found all this out by researching birth control pills. No doctor ever told me.

CONDOMS

Very much tied up to the myth of "safe sex". There is no such thing, despite the marketing of leaflets (like I picked up at a chemist to see what they were telling people) that tell people how to have "safe sex".

Safe sex, in the sense they mean it, would only exist if condoms were 100% reliable, and condoms are not 100% reliable. In fact, they are about 85-90% reliable.

This sounds good BUT there is a catch.

The condom is 85% reliable on FIRST time having sex with a condom. Accumulative probability comes into play, which some people have a hard time understanding. To get the odds of a condom breaking, accumulative probability mathematics has to be calculated.

In simple terms, for every 100 condoms used, the probability is 10-15 will fail.

This is very serious for those who have multiple partners because for every ten partners they have, there is risk the condom will break at least once - exposing them to the risk of HIV. They never can know when or where it will break. Therefore every time they have sex out of a committed relationship (and even in one if both have not been tested for HIV) they are gambling their life.

Further, there is no absolute guarantee that intact condoms will protect against HIV. Research has suggested that if the condoms are not in optimum condition (been kept in wrong conditions etc) the HIV virus can pass through the condom.

Therefore, the manufacturers and the medical and educational professionals who teach about safe sex are misinforming the public.

HIV is thought to be far more widespread than is thought.

ABORTION

Abortion doctors often misinform women (and their partners) about what abortion involves. They will often describe the embryo/fetus as "product of conception" or "lump of cells", where as by the time most abortions happen 6-10 weeks, the embryo has developing limbs and recognisable human characteristics. Women and couples deserve to know the truth.

They often don't tell women there is a risk of infertility and they often don't mention the possible psychological risks. If women are traumatised by abortion, there is often no support network only "it was your decision, live with it." Some women have abortions in panic because there is lack of support or help to be got. Depression and suicidal thoughts can haunt a woman for years later.

I include abortion under birth control because in both USA and UK 95% of abortions are done as a method of birth control. In both countries, rape, danger to the mother and fetal deformity account for only 5% of abortions (1-2% each).

OTHER MYTHS:

1. Can't get HIV from oral sex. Untrue. While it's difficult to get HIV from oral sex, it's possible.

2. Can't get pregnant from anal sex. Untrue. Again, while unlikely, it is possible for sperm to make it's way into woman's reproduction system, especially if stimulation of the woman's genitals occurs with semen on the fingers.

3. Can't get pregnant from non-penetrative sex - again while unlikely, not impossible due to reasons above.

I'm not trying to preach here, incase someone takes this the wrong way, I'm just passing on what I have learnt.

My advice is do your own research, don't believe blindly what is said by vested interest groups because your life is at risk, and the lives of any partners. Some people want to bury their head in the sand and not listen (I have had a hard time for telling people these things) - that's their choice. But knowledge is power, and in this case, might just be a lifesaver. People can't make informed choices when misinformed.