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Confused about contraception

I'm really confused about the condom. From what I understand, it's used to protect against unwanted pregnancies and STIs. But what about when someone WANTS to become pregnant, wouldn't that mean not using a condom thus increasing the risk of contracting a STI?

I know some of you will be thinking 'Omg, how naive is this person' but the sex education we had at our school was not really that effective.

Reply 1

Cirsium

19

Hehe yes the point of using a condom is to stop both STIs and pregnancy
Other forms of contraception will only prevent pregnancy (cap, coil etc)

If you want to get pregnant then presumably you're with a partner you're happy with in which case both of you should get checked out before you stop using condoms.

Reply 2

dh00001

16

if you wanted to get pregnant you wouldnt use a condom, yould get an sti test before hand to make sure neither of you had anything.

Reply 3

leah_0600

if you're going to have someone's baby, i'm sure you'd know if he had a STI/STD... surely!

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

OP

Yes but how do STI's come about in the first place? Obviously if someone is already infected, then Ok, but how do they happen at all?

Reply 5

dh00001

16

virus or bacteria contracted by transfer of bodily fluids. :smile:

Reply 6

jonas123

1

if two ppl have sex and don't have an STI, it's not suddenly going to miraculously appear. You have to have an STI in the first place to give it.

Reply 7

Helenia

20

leah_0600

if you're going to have someone's baby, i'm sure you'd know if he had a STI/STD... surely!

Ideally, you should. But there are plenty of people who go and get pregnant and get an STI at the same time. Great.

Reply 8

smiles

where do u go to get sti checks? what do they do? my bf assures me he is clean, and i know that i def am, but hes slept with alot more people than me (he is older) so im not 100% sure. suppose i should have been before i slept with him eh....

hmmm

Reply 9

dh00001

16

theres no way of knowing you definatly are. not all show visiable symptoms. you should have espcialy if youre not using condoms......

Reply 10

smiles

i know i def am coz my current bf is the 2nd person i have slept with, the person before we used condoms so i am clean. i duno if my bf is for sure though. as i said above, where do u go to get checks done?

x

Reply 11

dogtanian

16

You still might have something, condoms aren't 100% effective. But more than likely you'll be OK.

You seem to want to get the pair of you tested, which is good, so type your postcode in here.

Reply 12

Zoecb

11

If you want to get pregnant that means going totally unprotected I'm afraid.

Reply 13

Anonymous #2

I got pregnant by mistake and got chlamydia at the same time (Pill and condom failed, so did morning after!!) Think someone had been playing away *tut*, since we had both supposedly been 'virgins' beforehand.

Reply 14

dh00001

16

i think you can be born with chlamydia or is that syphilis? :confused:

something that confuses me though (guess should go in here) ; the pill tricks the body into beliving its pregnant right? and so if you took a pregnancy test would it be positive even if you wernt?

Reply 15

Jonatan

13

Anonymous

I got pregnant by mistake and got chlamydia at the same time (Pill and condom failed, so did morning after!!) Think someone had been playing away *tut*, since we had both supposedly been 'virgins' beforehand.

Ouch, that's pretty bad. Well at lest Chlamydia can be cured. It could have been a lot worse.

Reply 16

Jonatan

13

dh00001

i think you can be born with chlamydia or is that syphilis? :confused:

something that confuses me though (guess should go in here) ; the pill tricks the body into beliving its pregnant right? and so if you took a pregnancy test would it be positive even if you wernt?

The pill doesn't affect pregnancy tests afaik. And saying it makes the body think it is pregnant is really rather misleading, if not outright wrong. The common combinational pill contains a mixture of hormones that have several effects. Firstly it makes it less likely for an egg to attach onto the uterus, secondly it causes the woman to produce more of a secret that makes it difficult for sperms to reach the uterus. It also increases the levels of certain compounds that sperms are sensitive against and causes the ogulation and mesntruation to occur at more fixed intervalls. The combination of these effects make it rather unlikely to get pregnant while on the pill. Pregnancy tests work by detecting the concentration of certain hormones in the urin. A chemical reaction produces a blue-coloured pigment if these hormones are present in sufficient concentrations.

Reply 17

dh00001

16

but doesnt the pill increase production of these hormones?

Reply 18

Sam Beckett

7

There is a kind of syphillis known as 'water on the brain' which is I think different to the STI syphillis.

This is off the top of my head so could be entirely wrong.

STI's came about by viruses mutating and bacteria evolving. Maybe nature's way of controlling the population? Hmm.

Reply 19

Helenia

20

dh00001

but doesnt the pill increase production of these hormones?

No. Saying "the pill makes your body think it's pregnant" is a vast over-simplification. The pill contains analogues of progesterone and oestrogen (or in the case of the mini-pill, progesterone only). These suppress the body's natural productions of these hormones, which fluctuate with the monthly cycle, and create a more constant level of hormones. This, as Jonatan has pointed out, does the following:

•

In the case of the combined pill, suppresses ovulation (so there's no egg to fertilise).

•

Makes cervical mucus more sticky and harder for sperm to get through.

•

Makes the uterine lining less receptive to a fertilised egg.

The only way it really makes you "think you are pregnant" is that it stops ovulation and hormone levels are more consistent.

A pregnancy test tests for human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) which is a hormone produced by an implanted embryo. If you are not pregnant, regardless of whether you are on the pill, you will NOT produce hCG, hence tests will still be negative.

Confused about contraception

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