Not the Way Nature Intended?

Birth Control and Your Fertility

Part One

Remember the first time you woke with a start to realize you'd forgotten your birth control pill the night before? You sweated it out for the next 2 weeks until finally – mercifully – you got your period. You swore you'd never forget again, but every now and then, you slipped up. You were always lucky though – you never had an unwanted pregnancy.

Now, you're not so sure you were lucky at all. You've been trying to get pregnant for months, and it just isn't happening. Could using birth control have affected your fertility?

If you used the pill, it's unlikely that your fertility was affected, according to The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In most cases, once you stop taking it, fertility returns within a cycle or two. In fact, the FDA notes that the pill has been shown to prevent endometriosis and possibly reduce the risk of breast cancer later in life.

The so-called mini-pill (which contains no estrogen) is also not shown to have adverse effects on the return of fertility, the FDA says. And like the "bigger" combination pill, the mini-pill also has been shown to reduce the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancers.

Other birth control methods can affect the return of your fertility for longer periods of time. Not surprisingly, the manufacturers don't always advertise that information in their full-color ads in your favorite magazines. Worse, your own doctor may have information that is outdated or just plain wrong.

When Jessica* tried the Depo Provera

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