by Ann Marie Dwyer

Created on: March 19, 2007   Last Updated: January 16, 2009

Understanding how birth control pills work helps to demonstrate the complications of infertility issues once their use is discontinued.

Many women are mistaken into thinking that the fertile month following discontinuation of the pills is a safe time for conception. Typically amenorrhea, failure to menstruate, occurs the month after discontinuing BCP, which mimics pregnancy.

The active ingredient in birth control pills, progestin, a synthetic hormone which mimics the natural hormone progesterone produced during pregnancy, interferes with the pituitary gland's signals to the ovaries. The pituitary gland recognizes the progestin in the body and stops the ovaries from producing enough estrogen to ovulate. This is the reason that, when taken properly, the birth control pill is 99% effective in preventing pregnancy.

Birth control pills interfere with the body's natural ability to assimilate certain nutrients, causing common deficiencies in the vitamins B6, B12, C and folic acid. These deficiencies directly affect fertility. Additionally, folic acid deficiency can lead to a toxic increase in vitamin A, which is a major contributor to birth defects.

Birth defects and abnormalities in babies conceived in the month after BCP are discontinued include, but are not limited to: heart, kidney, vertebrae, anus, esophagus, trachea and limbs.

Modifications of sexual organs, specifically the change from female to male, occur with three times more frequency. Blood bilirubin at increased levels and jaundice are reported in births where BCP were taken shortly before or after conception.

Anecdotal evidence has been presented that BCP may hasten menopause in women who take the pills for more than 15 years and that the quality of eggs is decreased; However, clinical trials have not produced the same effects.

Before taking birth control pills, consult a physician about the possible side effects with reference to later fertility, residual effects that could affect your baby and the lasting effects on your health.

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