Fertility: When Did You Start Paying Attention?
At what age did you start paying attention to your fertility? Why did you start thinking about it?
I started birth control when I was 14, but began to understand what fertility meant at 24, when I wanted to go off of birth control. I barely knew my own body without hormones. I got my period at 11, which was very irregular and well, new. At 14 I was diagnosed with PCOS and started the Nexplanon. From then onwards, my period started to drastically change (my contraception journey to come at another time).
At 24, I was already curious about fertility. I wasn’t ready to start the journey then, but it made me begin to become self-aware. After many life changes, including burn out, quitting my job, leaving the country, selling all my belongings, and packing everything into a backpack to travel the world, I decided I wanted to start getting to know my body more by finally giving it a respite from the constant influx of hormones.
I read a lot of books about fertility and contraception. The first was This is Your Brain on Birth Control (by Sarah E. Hill, PhD), and I started to follow experts on social media. From there…I took the plunge. I went off birth control. And started to explore my own body’s cyclical rhythms.
However, this came at a cost: fear. Fear of pregnancy if I ever slept with someone with a penis. Fear of how my body was reacting to a lack of pill-induced hormones (hello, PCOS symptoms). I had to fully confront my body, my fertility, and my own natural cycle. Fear drove me to it. But now, self-love is what keeps me here.
I have loved the journey of knowing myself and my body. Cyclical living has done wonders for my mental and physical health. I feel so empowered in myself and my own body. But that means that I am incredibly aware of my fertility. I know when I am ovulating and incredibly fertile. And I know when I am not and my cycle becomes an absolute mess.
I’m learning more about my fertility every day. Still, the journey gave me the courage to know that I am empowered by the knowledge of my fertility, regardless of my age, gender, sexuality, or circumstance.
I hope to inspire people through this platform to continue to get to know themselves, their body, and their fertility. Regardless of whether you want a baby or not– fertility is knowledge for everyone and knowledge you deserve to have about your own body.
But that’s just me. What about others? Here’s what other people in our community have to say:
“I started to think about it this year when I realized having a baby would be very important to me”
“I think around my current age (22). It’s been around a year since I got off birth control and even though I don’t think I want kids, it is still something powerful that us women share and I caught myself being more and more aware of this power.”
“Late-puberty (around 16). This was the time I was becoming more physically active and seeking out hormonal contraceptives.”
What about yourself? Let us know in the comments or on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theselfpluscollective/