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If you’re trying to conceive, you may be concerned about all the talk of birth control causing infertility.
But can birth control actually make you infertile? Or is that just a myth?
Despite what you may see on social media or in the news, no research shows that hormonal contraception (like birth control pills) causes infertility. In fact, 83% of women who take birth control and then go off of it are able to conceive after one year of stopping.
Like many topics within the fertility world though, there’s a bit more to it than the statistics show. So join us for a closer look at what you should know about your ability to get pregnant after stopping birth control.
Takeaways
- Despite popular belief, birth control does not cause infertility. It works to prevent pregnancy only while you are taking it.
- When you first go off of hormonal contraceptives, it may take several cycles for your natural hormone levels to return. But the exact timing depends on your contraceptive method and your cycle regularity (prior to contraception).
- You are likely to experience withdrawal bleeding about 2 – 4 weeks after discontinuation of the pill. From there, your natural menstrual cycle and hormone fluctuations should kick back in.
- In some cases, hormonal birth control may have been masking underlying conditions like PCOS and endometriosis. So after stopping the pill, the symptoms of these conditions may return.
- There’s no set amount of time that it takes to get pregnant once you end hormonal birth control. You can begin trying right away, and once you start ovulating, there’s a chance of conception.
- If you’re having concerning symptoms after ending birth control, reach out to your healthcare provider.
- Signs of an underlying condition after getting off birth control include heavy bleeding, painful periods, no periods even after 6 months, or not being able to conceive after one year.
Can birth control make you infertile?
The short answer is no. Birth control does not make you infertile. Surprisingly, one study even found that women who used birth control for a prolonged period of time (5+ years) had a lower risk of delayed conception. In other words, they were able to get pregnant faster.
Another study examined over 8,400 couples trying to conceive and tracked their time to pregnancy after ending birth control. Here’s what they found:
Time to conception (after going off the pill) | Pregnancy rate |
Less than 6 months | 74% |
6 – 12 months | 14% |
After 1 year | 12% |
Numbers aside, you’re probably wondering where this whole discussion of birth control and infertility came from then. So let’s tackle that head-on.
Below are three issues that may feed into this myth:
1. It takes time for your hormones to get back in sync after ending birth control
When you initially stop hormonal birth control, it can take some time for your hormone levels to recalibrate to their natural state.
In this sense, there may be a small window (about 2 – 6 months) where your odds of conceiving are reduced.
2. Some women on birth control have underlying conditions
Oral contraceptives are often prescribed to treat symptoms of certain conditions. These include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, and fibroids.
So if you have one of these conditions and stop taking birth control pills, your symptoms are likely to return. And this can result in fertility challenges.
It’s also important to realize that many women start taking birth control pills at a young age before they know the ins and outs of their unique menstrual cycle. This means that they might not even know they have a condition like PCOS until they go off birth control and struggle to get pregnant. (Which of course may lead them to think it was the pill that caused their infertility.)
3. Other concurrent factors
At the end of the day, there are multiple factors that affect your ability to conceive:
- Your cycle regularity (when not on birth control) – this refers to how long your cycles are as well as how long your periods last and how heavy they are
- Your age
- Your overall reproductive health and medical history
- How often you have sex
- Lifestyle factors (like stress, sleep, diet, and exercise)
If you don’t realize this larger picture of your reproductive health, it may cause you to think that ending your birth control is the main culprit for infertility.
Hopefully, this misconception about birth control and infertility makes more sense now. But let’s take an even closer look at how exactly birth control works.
How does birth control prevent pregnancy?
Here are the three main ways hormonal birth control prevents pregnancy:
- It prevents your body from releasing the two hormones that are responsible for making you ovulate. These are follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH).
- It causes your cervical mucus to thicken. This thicker mucus acts as a barrier that keeps sperm from getting through to be able to fertilize an egg.
- It makes your uterine lining less receptive for a fertilized egg to implant. (Implantation is when a pregnancy becomes official.)
With these basic functions of birth control in mind, let’s see what goes on once you stop taking the pill.
What happens after getting off birth control?
To understand your post-pill menstrual cycle, it’s important to know how your cycle operates before ever taking birth control.
In a non-birth control cycle, your hormone levels change throughout the four phases of your menstrual cycle. This natural rise and fall of estrogen and progesterone helps your body prepare for conception and implantation.
Basically, your natural hormonal fluctuations jumpstart all the other functions that are necessary for preparing your body for a pregnancy.
Now, let’s throw birth control into the mix. When you take birth control pills, your body gets an extra dose of estrogen and progesterone. This throws your natural hormone levels off. And as a result, your body pauses all the processes that allow you to conceive.
When you decide to stop taking the pill, those natural hormone fluctuations we discussed will return. You’ll also begin getting a “real period” again, and ovulation will start back up. In short, all the biological processes that allow for pregnancy will go back to work.
But as you can imagine, your hormones don’t just immediately return to their natural levels. It can take a few cycles for menstruation and ovulation to regulate again.
It’s like coming out of wintertime, when the growth of a garden is on pause because it hasn’t been getting enough natural sunlight. Once the sunlight returns in springtime, flowers don’t sprout instantly. It can take weeks or months for them to begin growing again.
So here’s what you can expect to notice after stopping birth control:
- Possible withdrawal bleeding. This usually happens around 2 – 4 weeks after discontinuing the pill.
- Your natural menstrual cycle will resume after the withdrawal bleeding ends.
- It will likely take several full cycles for your hormones and menstrual cycle to fully regulate.
That’s the gist of what goes on after ending birth control. But there are a few other things to be on the lookout for, so keep reading!
Menstrual changes you may notice after getting off birth control
After ending your hormonal birth control, you may notice that:
- You have a longer time between cycles
- Your cycle length varies month on month
- Ovulation is irregular
The exact type of birth control you were on matters too. One study discovered that the method of birth control can determine how long it takes for your normal cycles to return.
Here’s what their research showed about different birth control methods and cycle regulation:
Birth control method | Time until return of natural cycles |
Injectable contraceptives | 5 – 8 cycles |
The patch | 4 cycles |
Oral contraceptives | 3 cycles |
Ring contraceptives | 3 cycles |
Hormonal and copper intrauterine devices (IUDs) | 2 cycles |
Knowing about the return of your natural cycle is important. But what about your ability to get pregnant? More on that piece of the puzzle next!
How long after stopping birth control can you get pregnant?
There’s no standard amount of time it takes to get pregnant after going off birth control. It depends on when you begin ovulating and when you begin trying to get pregnant.
As you’ve probably seen in your own friend circles, some women are able to get pregnant their first or second cycle of trying after birth control. Meanwhile, it can take others much longer.
Physically speaking, the pill mainly keeps you from getting pregnant by stopping ovulation. So once you begin ovulating regularly again, pregnancy is possible.
But remember that your hormones may be a bit out of whack at first. So try not to panic if it takes several months for your cycle to go back to normal.
Know more: Chances of Getting Pregnant After Stopping Birth Control
Trying to conceive and haven’t seen your period return after 3 months? The Inito Fertility Monitor can help tell you if you’ve started ovulating again. It tracks four key fertility hormones – FSH, estrogen, and LH help track your fertile window, and PdG (urine metabolite of progesterone) helps confirm ovulation.
And if you find that you’re not ovulating for 2-3 cycles, you can talk to your healthcare provider at this point.
They can review your medical history and if needed, run some diagnostic tests to see what’s going on. This could be an initial indicator of an underlying condition impacting your fertility (which we’ll go over next).
What are signs of infertility to look out for?
As mentioned, some women may have underlying conditions that can lead to fertility challenges. And stopping birth control can make symptoms of these conditions return.
This is often the case with symptoms like: acne, irregular or painful periods, and unwanted hair growth.
So when you stop your birth control, watch out for any of the following symptoms:
- Your period doesn’t return after 6 months.
- You have acne or excessive hair growth, especially around your face or arms. This could indicate polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
- Your periods are so painful that they interrupt your ability to perform normal daily activities. This could indicate endometriosis.
- You have excessive bleeding during your periods. This looks like having to change your pad, tampon, or cup every hour. Or it could be bleeding that lasts longer than 8 days. These symptoms could signal that you have fibroids.
- You have night sweats, hot flashes, or difficulty sleeping. These could indicate perimenopause.
Worried because you think you have one of these symptoms? Try not to jump to conclusions quite yet! These symptoms on their own don’t necessarily mean pregnancy isn’t possible.
But it goes without saying that you’ll want to consult your healthcare provider so they can help you troubleshoot.
FAQs
One study showed that taking birth control for 5+ years was correlated with a shorter time to conception. Keep in mind though that this is only one study, and your fertility is influenced by many factors. These include your age, overall health, underlying conditions, and lifestyle factors.
No, birth control is not typically associated with having a miscarriage. Miscarriages are often natural occurrences that have nothing to do with anything you did. If you find out you are pregnant though, you should stop taking your birth control and talk to your doctor.
The exact side effects, whether short-term or long-term, depend on the exact medication you are taking and your medical history.
There are some studies that show birth control may lead to a higher risk of blood clots and some types of cancer. But this is usually in patients who already have a predisposition for these conditions. So talk to your doctor about your particular birth control method and its potential risks and side effects for you.
No, birth control pills are not known to cause long-term infertility. They simply prevent pregnancy when they’re being used. Once you stop using your birth control, your hormone levels and natural menstrual cycle will soon return. As long as you have no underlying conditions that affect fertility, you should be able to conceive within about 6 months to a year.
There is no known link between using emergency contraception (like Plan B) and your future fertility. This is true regardless of how often you use Plan B. But of course, if you plan to take Plan B, it’s a good idea to follow up with your doctor.
