Christian views on birth control

[sarlusan]

I realize this is a very controversial topic and I am not sure what I'm going to get, but here goes...

What are your views on birth control? I have been on the pill, when not TTC or pg, ever since I got married. I feel kind of guilty about it since I feel like I am potentially "aborting" any fertilized embryos that don't implant... but I also am not ready to just give up on birth control. I may or may not be done having kids, so I'm not quite ready for the "permanent" methods. I tend to have preemies (although at 35 weeks I'm currently in my longest pregnancy yet!) with lots of bedrest, so getting pregnant again is not something to be taken lightly. I myself was a spermicide and diaphragm baby, so I'm not too enthused about that idea (although maybe the technology has gotten better in the past 30 years!). We are not fond of condoms. I can't have an IUD b/c of a mis-shaped uterus (plus there's that whole implantation question again). I've tried the TCOYF methods and honestly my husband and I tend not to be too motivated to abide by them too closely "in the moment."

So... since I'm coming to the end of another pregnancy, this topic is on my mind again. I just don't feel like there is any great solution out there. I would prefer not to be judged for any of the above, but I would welcome any honest opinions from those who have wrestled with some of these issues.

Thanks!

[Bluegoat]

I've come to the conclusion that I really can't do the pill for the reasons you describe. There really aren't many options once you get rid of the hormonal stuff, the old barrier methods I guess.

As far as natural family planning goes. I think those methods do take discipline. But perhaps it helps to see that as one of the advantages. It is rather like Lent - you don't not have sex and then do nothing, you replace is with prayer together, or going for a walk, or whatever. It also can be helpful to think about those who have to abstain because they are not married, and who have a much heavier burden.

You could always try barrier and NFP.

[dislocator3972]

I believe when you take the pill daily it actually prevents you from ovulating, so there is no fertilization. The only time I've ever heard of women still ovulating while on the pill is on cheap looking internet sites.

My friends and I have been going over and over this one lately. Before I got preg. my husband and I were using a diaphragm and sperm. and it worked well for us, but did involve preparation. Luckily, that method was easy enough to work into our routine. He filled the applicator tube while I placed the diaphragm, and that way no one was waiting around at a time when our patience was non-existent anyway. I have no idea what diaphragms were like in the past, but now they're fitted around the size, shape, and placement of your cervix, and the spermicide has to have changed. So maybe that helps?

The only other thing I can think of is hormonal birth control. It's the only thing that actually prevents the fertilization of the egg. It seems like they're some controversy over whether or not it ALWAYS prevents ovulation, but at the very least it does in the vast majority of women, the vast majority of the time.


ACOG explains how birth control pills work.

Good luck!

[twirlygirl]

I think it depends which pill you take. The combined pill or the progesterone only pill. The pop or mini pill doesn't always stop you ovulating. The combined pill does stop ovulation.

I personally took the combined pill for years but since having my daughter and having ppd afterwards I don't like how the pill makes me feel so I stopped taking it. Now I'm pregnant again and I don't think I'll use the pill as contraception again.

Also I think views on contraception will vary from Christian to Christian. There are families at our church with 7 or 8 kids who don't agree with using any form of contraception.

[pjs]

We use nfp. We regard marital relations as a gift from God and truly a preview of heaven while still here on earth. Anything that interferes with this triune union, we believe, is sacreligious so we do not "control" any aspect of the union, other than abstinence during fertile times if we have grave reasons to avoid another child. But like the previous poster said, you'll find variations from Christian to Christian.

[TzippityDoulah]

I can only tell you what WE do... but this is something that deserves prayer on a personal level before coming to a decision.

we don't use anything right now. we used to use condoms but both of us felt that isn't what God wanted for us to do. (plus I was getting sick of being so itchy from them!!)

We personally feel very uncomfortable with ANY for oof barrier or contraception b/c of the chance of abortion. and honestly I don't tryst ACOG on anything, so there statement of how birth control works doesn't matter to me personally. If there is even one in a billion chance of aborting an embryo, I'm not okay with it...

besides not being able to feel spiritually comfortable with the pills and hormone drugs, I have deep concern about any physical problems they can cause. so even if I was spiritually ok with it, I still wouldn't go there.

We have discussed (but not come to conclusion on) NFP. only b/c we feel we're only using the info about our own bodies that God provided for us. I've heard it argued every which a way over if this is considered "contraception" or not. frankly i don't care what it's "considered" by other people... I'm more concerned about how God views it and if my husband and I have peace on it.

(we are in the midst of praying over NFP right now. I am pregnant with my 3rd and I have very scary pregnancies - baby and i get sick etc... longstory short I could REALLY use some time to rebuild my system)

[TzippityDoulah]

Originally Posted by pjs

We use nfp. We regard marital relations as a gift from God and truly a preview of heaven while still here on earth. Anything that interferes with this triune union, we believe, is sacreligious so we do not "control" any aspect of the union, other than abstinence during fertile times if we have grave reasons to avoid another child.

yeah, that's how we feel too

[lilyka]

first of all there is the abortion issue. secondly, there is the trying to seperate sexd and procreation. you can pretend all you want they are completely seperate things but they are not and never will be. third there is the aspect of trying to control Gods blessing and thinking you know better than Him.

If you really don't want to get pregnant though why not try combining a barriar method and NFP? an added layer of protection, no one gets hurt and you still have that constant awareness of the magnitude of the sexual union.

[Phantaja]

I used an IUD until I decided that having a baby wouldn't be the end of the world and read information that suggests that the IUD is an abortifacent. I stopped the pill at 18 (when I got the IUD) because the hormones were making me evil and sick. I got information years later about it being a possible abortifacent, so I will never use the pill again. There's a video here and as a warning, I think that I should tell you that there's pretty heavy pro-life propaganda, but it is informative.

After I get pregnant and have a baby, I think that I will use NFP along with a cervical cap or Lea's Sheild when I'm fertile, but I still have time to think about it.

[charleysmama23]

Dh & I use FAM (like NFP, temps, cervical fluid, etc). At first he thought it would be too much work, but after we started he liked knowing so much about what was going with our fertility and such. Plus we were lucky and it turned out my cycles were extremely predictable.
As far as hormonal birth control, I understand how you feel. I don't believe what a person chooses about this makes them a good Christian or a bad one, and for some woman pregnancy is very difficult and it would actually (I believe) be extremely irresponsible to just get pregnant whenever because of what it would do to their bodies and their children. I know that can be controversial because of women who hold to the Quiverfull idea, but I simply don't agree that God expects women to just have baby after baby with absolutely no say in it.
I don't like hormonal bc because of how it makes me feel (no sex drive, for one thing), plus I was also concerned about the statement on the packaging that says it makes the uterus an "unfriendly environment" for conception...that worried me a bit.
During my fertile time we use condoms if we can't stand it, but we both dislike them so tend to just use abstinence.
I guess I'm saying this:
Maybe look into TCOYF again? Apart from religious reasons, I worry what forcing my body to stop ovulating does to a woman in the long run. And if, in the end, you want to keep using hormonal bc then that is your decision and you shouldn't let anyone make you feel badly about it. We each have to examine our hearts and decide what is right for us. Just like some pp's have said about feeling like God wanted something particular for their families, and no one could tell them otherwise.

[Phantaja]

Originally Posted by charleysmama23

I don't like hormonal bc because of how it makes me feel (no sex drive, for one thing),

That might be it's intended purpose. No sex drive and being to b!tchy for anyone to want to touch you= no pregnancy!

[fruitfulmomma]

I believe when you take the pill daily it actually prevents you from ovulating, so there is no fertilization. The only time I've ever heard of women still ovulating while on the pill is on cheap looking internet sites.

With all due respect this is simply not true!

From your link...

Birth control pills are made of hormones that prevent ovulation. The hormones in the pill cause changes in the cervical mucus and the lining of the uterus. The cervical mucus thickens, which blocks the sperm from entering the cervix. The lining of the uterus thins, making it less likely that a fertilized egg can attach to it. Together, these events make it very unlikely that someone taking the pill will become pregnant.

(Bolding mine.)

The fact that women with perfect laboratory use still experience pill "failure" and become pregnant is proof enough that ovulation occurs in at least some women. You can also read the Physicians Desk Reference and see the same thing. And depending on which pill you are using you have a higher risk of ovulating because you are getting less hormones.

If there is even one in a billion chance of aborting an embryo, I'm not okay with it...

:

OP, my position is that God's command to be fruitful and multiple still applies to us. It was never rescinded and was repeated numerous times. This has been the historical position of the Christian Church up until the last 100 years or so. If you are interested in discussing the scriptures more in depth on the issue you are welcome to PM me or I'd be glad to recommend some audio or book sources if you are interested.

Honestly, we've had some real tests of faith around here but as God has promised us, He has always supplied our needs. I have never gotten pregnant before praying for a child and my timing has certainly not been His, as He has seen fit to space them all out by at least two years and if it had been up to me I would have had more children. I wanted 20. No, I am not kidding. But as it is, I am almost 30, have been married since I was 18 and have only 5 kids.

[EnviroBecca]

I have a different perspective than anyone who's posted so far: I am pro-choice, I think it's morally acceptable to choose a method of contraception that may destroy a fertilized egg, but I think there are other good reasons why hormonal contraception (that includes the pill--Dislocator3972 made it sound like they're different, but the pill is hormonal) is a poor choice both for your health and for your relationship with God.

But first let me explain about the function of the combination pill as I understand it: Primarily it's supposed to prevent ovulation, and it often succeeds, but if you take a dose later than scheduled, vomit, have diarrhea, or don't eat for a day (because you're sick or fasting), it may not work because the gap in fake hormones allows your body's natural function to operate. Also, the official medical definition of "pregnancy" requires IMPLANTATION, so when doctors say a method prevents "pregnancy" that may mean it allows sperm and egg to meet but does not allow the zygote to implant. So, if you believe that killing a zygote by making your uterus unfriendly to implantation is wrong, the pill is the wrong method for you.

I believe that fertility is not a disease to be cured with drugs but a gift to be used responsibly. Taking fake hormones to replace the cycle God gave me with a fake cycle has always seemed intuitively wrong, and intellectually it makes sense that doing this would be likely to damage my hormone-producing glands and/or the organs affected by those hormones. I believe Fertility Awareness is very important for understanding and respecting your body. That doesn't mean you have to use FAM/NFP as your ONLY method of preventing pregnancy. Being aware of when you ovulate will make ANY other method more effective because you can be more careful when you're fertile. Even if you decide to take the pill again, understanding your fertility signs will help to notice if it's not working!

It sounds like your problem with NFP was not about monitoring your cycle but about abstaining at fertile times. As others have mentioned, you could use a barrier method then. Another option, if it suits your morality, is to touch each other or have oral sex instead of intercourse--then there's no risk of conception, but you still get the release and cuddling and togetherness instead of feeling frustrated. That's what works for us! We believe God made sex for many reasons other than procreation, and it's fine to enjoy it for those reasons. We also believe that the tremendous blessing and responsibility of raising a child is not to be taken lightly, so it's important to make responsible, prayer-guided decisions about what's right for your family.

[BoringTales]

I, personally, am not ok using any method that even has the potential (no matter how remote) of working post conception.

I'm *not* anti-birth control though, even for Christians. I think its a very personal issue that not everyone will have the same convictions about. (kind of like alcohol use)

We're going to just decide when we are DONE DONE, and then take permanent measures to prevent pregnancy. We might be done after this baby, we might have one more.

[Ellien C]

I am Christian and I have no issues with someone using the Birth Control Pill. I think it's a very personal choice and the church doesn't get to decide this for woman. Then again, my church has no dogma whatsoever so.

[Smokering]

I'm anti-HBC for the abortifacient effect as mentioned above (as well as a strong sense tha tricking your body into thinking it's permanently pregnant cannot be a good thing, and that the environmental impact is No Good Thing, and that the long list of side-effects ranging from mental bizarreness to weight gain and strokes and, you know, death is a steep price to pay). As a Christian, if I needed HBC for medical reasons I would still use barrier methods to prevent pregnancy in order to avoid the abortifacient issue (as frankly annoying as that would be!).

I come from a QF background (one of six!), but have since changed my views on the issue. It's true that God does command us (well, He commanded Adam and Eve) to be fruitful and multiply, but not "as much as possible". A woman who has four children in 20 years is fruitful and multiplying, I feel, as well as one who has 20. As the cervical fluid aspect of charting was theoretically possible from very early history (and I've read that a remote tribe in Africa has practiced it for a very long time without the help of Western science) it seems that God has given women some way of determining fertility. And the genealogies of the Bible seem to suggest that BC of some description is going on (and is never condemned), unless the women were extremely infertile or only had sex very regularly. There are a suspicious number of small families with long lifespans in there. And now that barrier methods are freely available (if not, frankly, all that fun), couples can prevent pregnancy without prolonged periods of abstinence (which could be seen as an issue due to "deprive not one another").

I also don't believe that sex and procreation are indissoluble. Within the average month most sex physically cannot result in a pregnancy; within the average lifetime, a good 20 or 30 years of sex physically cannot result in pregnancy (excluding childhood for obvious reasons, but counting in post-menopause and a few years for pregnancy and breastfeeding). If God meant to make sex and procreation inextricably intertwined, He failed rather spectacularly. Yes, of course they're not completely separate; but I have yet to see an argument which successfully gets from "Sex sometimes results in pregnancy" (an is-statement) to "Sex should always be open to resulting in pregnancy" (an ought-statement). I know there are other QF arguments - the Onan one, for instance - and don't want to go into them all here because I don't want this to become a QF-bashing thread. I'll just say I no longer find them convincing, and if anyone wants to PM me on the matter that's cool.

I do think having children is Biblically encouraged as a Good Thing to the point where having babies should perhaps be seen as the default. I think choosing not to have kids for selfish or shallow reasons is wrong, but not having children for ethical reasons (the environment or the possibility of children inheriting a horrific disease) I respect, even if I may disagree with the conclusions (or not, depending!). Where I am right now is OK with the thought of spacing children enough that I will be mentally and physically a good mother (the current issue is recovering from birth trauma, so I've given myself a "free pass" until the end of the year, to prevent the thought of TTC bringing on panic attacks); but not with the thought of saying "never again" to children. So, spacing rather than working towards a certain final number of kids. But that's very much due to my individual state right now, possibly some ex-QF guilt, and my childhood pictures of the big family I wanted... I don't think it's the One Biblical Way to plan a family at all.

I'm with you on hatred of condoms, but can't start charting until my period returns (apparently beginning to chart while BFing and amenorrhoeic is a nightmare). So, yep. Not a perfect solution. Have you actually read through the TCOYF book? I found it so well-written and inspirational I wanted to rush out and buy a thermometer; maybe it'd give you the motivation you need!

[writteninkursive]

Well I have to start by saying that I'm not a Christian, but I was raised in a non-denominational church (a very adamant one), and I probably have some unconventional beliefs on the topic.
The religion I was raised with believes that hormone-based birth control is fine. Anything really is fine, except abortion.
I personally believe that using hormone-based birth control is just asking for problems. Hormones, in my opinion, are the last thing you want to mess with. We have a society of women with adrenal, thyroid, and pituitary problems and women who are constantly altering their body's natural hormones. The only form of birth control I will (or have ever) used is condoms. I believe in prevention of pregnancy, not allowing an egg to be fertilized and then not allowing it to attach to the uterus (which is what the majority of hormone-based birth control does).
I am a total Atheist, and I believe that life begins at conception. So my beliefs are slightly aligned with some Catholic beliefs that hormone birth control doesn't prevent the pregnancy, but ends it soon after fertilization. But I think condoms are great, and used them successfully for over a year after DD #1 was born, and plan to use them again after this baby is born in August. I also use the natural family planning method (mostly), so I chart and know my fertile days and we avoid during that time.

[springmama]

This is kind of what I'm dealing with right now. I'm thinking about converting to the Catholic or Episcopal Church and the whole birth control thing is an issue for me too. Currently we use withdrawl or a condom but those things are not allwoed by the Catholic Church are they?

I believe that life begins at conception and therefore I will not use anything that would prevent an egg from implanting. I also have issues with the pill (which I was on for 7 years) and IUD's for health reasons as well as the abortion issue. NFP kinda scares me because we really don't want anymore children. I feel like it leaves room for a surprise and abstaining during fertile times is not ok for DH. We feel really blessed with the two we have and quite frankly we have our hands full with them.

[EnviroBecca]

I'm thinking about converting to the Catholic or Episcopal Church and the whole birth control thing is an issue for me too. Currently we use withdrawl or a condom but those things are not allwoed by the Catholic Church are they?

My cousin who converted to Catholicism and is very strict about it says that the Catholic teaching is that any male orgasm outside the vagina, any female orgasm in an encounter that does not include intercourse, or any type of device used to prevent conception is a mortal sin. So that includes both withdrawal and condoms.

The Episcopal Church allows you to use your own discernment about these things.

NFP kinda scares me because we really don't want anymore children. I feel like it leaves room for a surprise and abstaining during fertile times is not ok for DH.

Remember that ANY form of contraception leaves room for a surprise. NFP practiced correctly is as effective as many other methods. (This chart, from a source that surely has no pro-NFP bias, compares effectiveness. It has two tiny pictures of penises, so don't look if that will trouble you!)

If you're really certain you don't want more children, sterilization is the most effective option.

Otherwise, you could practice NFP and either abstain just from intercourse (as I mentioned above) or use condoms, diaphragm, sponge, or other barrier method at fertile times.

[Hebaume39]

I'm not going to comment on morality other than to say while the Catholic church is not a big fan of birth control it also says that a "well formed concense" is capable of making its own moral decisions and that the catechism is just a guideline because every situation is different. That said I don't use birth control except for tracking my cycles. Hormonal birth control doesn't just mess with your hormones (which is a mighty complicated system and fairly easy to mess up) but as a hormone also effects everything else. The big one for me is it prevents you from absorbing most vitamins very well and I know alot of people who have gotten pregnant while on the pill (five). Please read the little warnings that come with the medication before you take it. One of our good family friends had a stroke and is now unable to talk or walk in part because she was on birth control with uncontroled high blood pressure (huge red flag). I wouldn't use the IUD due to the life issues mentioned. And barrier just doesn't work for us. I would agree with pp that using absentence periodically in your marriage has a wonderful "honeymoon" effect. You're really glad to be together when you are. I adore that my husband "loves me enough to protect me from dangerous medications that hurt you" (his words not mine). Sorry this is rather garbled but I'm juggling a baby.