14 true stories of failed contraception leading to unplanned pregnancies. “Surprise” pregnancy events to provide information for friends to plan safe contraception and avoid unplanned pregnancies. These stories are shared from the experiences of helping women with unplanned pregnancies by volunteer doctors from the RSA (Referral System for Safe Abortion) network. Let’s take a look.
1.Carelessness A 19-year-old student and her boyfriend of the same age had sex without much contraception because they thought that having regular periods meant they wouldn’t get pregnant easily. It turned out she was already 21 weeks pregnant.
2.Fearful and hesitant A 20-year-old student felt pain when her boyfriend wore a condom, so he ejaculated outside. Sometimes he accidentally ejaculated inside, and sometimes the condom broke. She took an emergency contraceptive pill 12 hours apart, but still got pregnant.
3. Negligence due to intoxication An 8-week and 3-day pregnant student had a 65-year-old boyfriend but accidentally had sex with another man. She said, “I was drunk, and he was drunk, so we didn’t use protection.”
4. Taking two types of contraceptive pills A 20-year-old woman with one child was 5 weeks pregnant with a new boyfriend and then broke up. She used emergency contraceptive pills followed by monthly contraceptive pills.
5. On and off pill usage A 19-year-old student got pregnant because she didn’t take her monthly contraceptive pills consistently. She took them for 1 month and stopped for 2 months. She said the pharmacy advised that taking pills continuously for too long isn’t good for health and that one pack could cover 1-2 months. During the time she stopped taking them, she had sex without using condoms or withdrawal method.
6. Fear of contraceptive effects on children A 22-year-old woman, 6 weeks pregnant, had a boyfriend who thought that taking both monthly and emergency contraceptive pills would negatively affect having children, based on internet information suggesting it could lead to infertility or unhealthy children, causing internal problems. So, they used the withdrawal method.
7. Failed withdrawal on the second attempt A 19-year-old woman married to a 45-year-old husband. The husband thought he was too old and that the woman might find a new man in the future, so he didn’t want her to take contraceptive pills, fearing it would make it hard to have children. They used the withdrawal method for a year, confident it was done correctly. After having sex a second time, they used withdrawal again. Now she’s 11 weeks pregnant.
8. Fear of condoms causing cervical cancer A 25-year-old student had been with her boyfriend for 3 months. She had been sexually active since 18 and always used condoms without getting pregnant. She read an article in a journal suggesting that using condoms could cause cervical cancer, so she wondered if it contributed to the high rates of cervical cancer today. She let her boyfriend use the withdrawal method, resulting in pregnancy.
9. Didn’t forget to take contraceptive pills A 43-year-old woman had been taking contraceptive pills every night before bed since getting married a year ago, following the order on the pill pack, thinking she never forgot and never stopped. Now with a new foreign boyfriend aged 65, she’s 12 weeks and 6 days pregnant.
10. Boyfriend rarely comes home A 33-year-old woman, 9 weeks and 3 days pregnant, didn’t use contraception. She had surgery on one ovarian cyst years ago, and her boyfriend worked in another province, rarely coming home, so she thought it wouldn’t be easy to get pregnant.
11. Forgot to take contraceptive pills for 2 days A 31-year-old woman, 6 weeks pregnant, was afraid of injections and needles, and heard that one must have children before getting contraceptive injections. She went to another province without her pills, missing them for 2 days, which was over 10 days after her period. She had sex with her boyfriend once without a condom. The next morning, she took an emergency contraceptive pill but still got pregnant. She was surprised she still got pregnant.
12. Didn’t believe withdrawal could lead to pregnancy A 37-year-old woman with 2 children broke up with her husband and had a new boyfriend. She was afraid to buy condoms, thinking there were too many people at 7-11 and pharmacies, so they used withdrawal. When she said she was pregnant, her boyfriend asked, “How could you have a child? He didn’t believe it.”
13. Had sex for 2 days but took one set of emergency contraceptive pills A 37-year-old woman with 3 children, the youngest being 1 year old, had a boyfriend working in another area who came home once a week. They used condoms to prevent pregnancy during sex, but the last time they ran out of condoms, so they had unprotected sex. After the first time, she took the first emergency contraceptive pill the next evening, then had sex again that night. On the 5th day, she took the second emergency contraceptive pill, resulting in pregnancy.
14. Forgot to take contraceptive pills for 3 days and took all 3 missed pills A 44-year-old woman with 2 children had previously given birth to large babies weighing 4.2 and 3.9 kilograms. The doctor said she was at risk for diabetes and needed regular blood screening. After giving birth, she tried contraceptive injections for 3 months but had an allergic reaction with acne-like rashes, so she took low-hormone contraceptive pills for 10 years. Her weight didn’t increase, her blood pressure was normal, and diabetes wasn’t affected. Recently, she often forgot to take her pills. In October, she forgot to take pills on the 10th, 11th, and 12th, and her boyfriend had sex without a condom. She remembered on the day she was supposed to take the 13th pill, so she took all 3 missed pills in the evening and the 13th pill before bed. She found out she was 5 weeks pregnant.
Safe love requires protection. Choose effective contraception methods.
RSATHAI cares about your quality of life.
Story by Uncle Doctor, Dr. Ruangkit Sirikanchanakul, RSA Volunteer Network