When do you think teens should start using birth control?
Hey Amy!
When do you think teens should start using birth control? I am 30 and my little sister is 15. Our parents did a terrible job of talking to me about sex and I am pretty certain they are repeating the past with my sister. They were religious and thought the church teachings would do the trick for my sex ed. I learned from school and peers and went to Planned Parenthood on my own at age 17 – church was not nearly enough or all that helpful.
I wasn’t sexually active, but all my friends were and I did NOT want to make the mistakes they were making. And now my sister, who is beautiful, smart and starting to get attention from boys, has me worried.
I’ve been very open with her and done a ton of sex education with her, but now I think it might be time for a sisterly trip to get her on birth control.
What do you think? Is 15 too young? She’s not sexually active but I want her to be ready for anything.
~ Worried Big Sister
Girls should be on birth control way sooner than you think!
Hey Big Sister!
What a lucky girl your little sister is! It is so great that you have been talking with her and have done your darndest to get her sex educated. Brava!
I think you should definitely talk to her about getting started on birth control. 15 is not too young for a teen to be on birth control and it is definitely too young for pregnancy. She may think it’s weird that you are bringing it up because she isn’t sexually active…yet.
When you help her establish this kind of healthcare at a young age, it’s much more likely this will become her “normal” when it comes to her sexual health. You want this to be her normal for all the obvious reasons.
If you are worried that helping her get an IUD, implant, patch or pills will somehow encourage her to have sex, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Teen girls on birth control don’t have sex any sooner than girls who are not on birth control. However, when they do have sex, they don’t get knocked up.
She’s lucky to have you – trust your gut and get your teen sister on birth control.
You’ve got this!
~ Amy
