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Not the Way Nature Intended?

Birth Control and Your Fertility

Part One

shot after the birth of her first child, she experienced heavy bleeding for three months. She tried going on the pill to regulate her cycle – a common solution – but found that it made her sick. "My doctor gave me an information sheet which told me it might take 'up to 6 months' for my fertility to return after the shot 'wore off,'" she says. She had a second shot.

Three months later, Jessica began suffering from uterine infections, break-through bleeding and 20-day periods. Worst of all, even a year and a half after her shot was supposed to have worn off, she still wasn't ovulating. "I was convinced I would never get pregnant again," she says. "My OB/GYN said the horrible words: 'secondary infertility,' and my heart stopped."

The manufacturers of Depo Provera now admit that it can take up to 18 months for menstruation to return after you stop receiving injections. Their Web site explains that the shot "causes a resting state in your ovaries ... preventing your egg cells from ripening. If an egg is not released from the ovaries during your menstrual cycle, it cannot become fertilized by sperm and result in pregnancy." Remember, too, that the return of menstruation does not necessarily mean the return of ovulation – so it may take longer than 18 months for you to be able to get pregnant. For more information on how the menstrual cycle works, see The Cycle Daily.

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