When I was a teenager, I could not imagine talking to my mom about birth control. She would have more than likely said, “Ni sabes cómo limpiarte la cola y quieres birth control!” If your 15-year-old daughter asks your permission to go on the pill, do you or did you give consent? Why or why not? Let’s talk about it…
Spiffy: “Starting when my kids were 12 and 14, we stocked condoms in the kids bathroom. Never asked where they went. Later, we found out that we supplied half the school kids. I suspected so, because we went through a lot of them. When my daughter was 14, my wife took her to the doctor for a frank talk about contraception (an hour of the busy doctor’s schedule) and she elected to be prescribed the pill. My wife took over training her to use it regularly. When my granddaughter was 13, my daughter confided that she had not taken advantage of the protection of the pill till she was 18. But many of her friends used the bathroom condoms. Good contraception does not promote promiscuity. Education is the best protection.”
Charles Edward Rodriguez: “Would have to have a sit down with her and 15 yr old boyfriend and when said boyfriend shows up kick him really really really hard in his boyhood and tell him while he’s on the ground in severe pain don’t get my baby girl pregnant. Or something like that.”
Noah Randall: “Absolutely. I got on the pill at 14, and it helped a lot with cramps, mood swings, and acne. When the time came for me to become sexually active, I was already covered and was spared the awkward “hey I should start birth control for..reasons” conversation with my parents.”
Judith Manske: “While I don’t have a fifteen year old daughter, I’d do for her what my mom did for me: I’d say yes. Going on the pill isn’t just about wanting to be safer during sex. That thought never even crossed my mind until I was nineteen—I just wanted to go on the pill because my periods sucked. My mom’s second-youngest sister had periods so bad she would become anemic, and I was much the same way. I’ve always had an extremely heavy—and irregular—flow. I couldn’t use tampons (even heavy duty ones) because they’d be used up within a few hours, and even the largest pads had a tendency to leak. I could go twelve days on my period, and then a week later it would start up again. Mom took me to see her OB, and we discussed the possible risks and complications that might happen from taking the pill. In the end, though, we decided it would be better overall if I could get my periods under control, and I went on the pill. My quality of life improved immediately. And if my hypothetical fifteen year old daughter wanted to go on the pill because she was having sex? I’d still get her the prescription (and a box of condoms to boot), and be pleased she was taking steps to ensure I’m not about to become a grandmother before she’s ready.”
Annabelle Perez Martinez: “I would hope we have the kind of relationship that she feels comfortable with. I would discuss the concerns and reasons for wanting her to wait until she fully understands when one is truly ready for this big step in a relationship, along with our religious beliefs. I would accompany her to the appointment, should she decide to pursue it. I would rather she feel safe and free to come to me and medical professionals vs hearing unfounded theories from her teen friends.”
Lorin Grahn: “Statistics show that sex education and access to contraceptives reduces teenage pregnancy. Common sense over abstinence. Just remember your teenage experiences, raging hormones.”
Pat Monroe: “I would tell my teen patient’s parents… “ I know your child is a good [girl or boy] right up till the moment they are not”. When the kissing and the touching starts and those hormones are raging, bad decisions are often not made, they just happen.”
Just Somebody: “It amazes me how many people in the comments assume that because you opened the door for your kids to be safe, they automatically became sexually active at the first opportunity.When I was 13, I found a condom in my boyfriend’s wallet. Spoiler: we didn’t have sex. Just because he had it didn’t mean he was using it. When I was 15, I started birth control pills. I also started dating my first serious boyfriend – the boy who eventually became my husband. We had a sex ed class that handed out free condoms and keychains to hide them in, so judgy parents would be none the wiser. Spoiler: we didn’t have sex. Not that month. Not that year. Not the year after that. Just because I wasn’t afraid of getting pregnant didn’t mean I was ready for that step. Kudos to the parents who understand that making safe options available isn’t the same as encouraging them to rush into things.”
Yvette Elizabeth: “If I had a daughter, I would have the relationship I have with my mother. Open and trust communication no matter how much as a mother you may not agree with it, listen to your daughter have the discussion about sex, sleeping around, being careful with other STDs and not just pregnancy. Guide and teach her to respect herself. Yes I would make the appointment.”
Robert Vasquez: “What used to be American values are literally a thing of the pass. Parenting is no longer parenting, it’s the school system that is parenting with kids going to the school of TikTok and the university of YouTube. The morals of old American sacrament require two parts: word and matter. Wedding vows your consent, the words precede bodily union………the matter ..because that’s how God intended it to be. AI is the new 2024 parent.”
Aghast Gee: “Absolutely yes. My daughter is 19, and I told her long before she was 15 that I would take her to get birth control whenever she decided she needed it, and reminded her every once in a while that the offer still stood. Denying birth control to a 15-year-old won’t keep her from having sex, it’ll just sharply increase the odds of her getting pregnant, which in turn will lead to much worse and harder-to-solve problems. You want her to trust you so she’ll talk to you about all the other issues around sex as well—who she’s having it with, why she’s having it, whether she’s being pressured or doing things she doesn’t really want to do.”
Susana Esebé: “I was too afraid to talk to my mum about birth control, so I went to the doctor on my own and got on the pill at 14. A year after that she found an empty blister in my school bag and started shouting at me like a crazy, so I came out with a super risky genius idea and I said they weren’t mine, they were my cousins and she gave them to me because I had to write a report for school about birth control. I said “call my dad if you don’t believe me!” (They are divorced) then she calmed down and never called him. Now that I’m 29 I look back and I think how ridiculous was that reaction from her, I was trying not to repeat her same mistake and get pregnant in my teens. She should have been proud of me and not yelled, knowing all that she had to give up because of me. Luckily I’ve always looked after myself and only got pregnant at 27, right when I wanted. Let your daughter trust you and she won’t have to do stuff on your back. She will do it anyway!”
Amanda Stonehocker: “I bought condoms when my son asked and I’d put my daughter on the pill if she asked.I asked my mom at 15. She took me to the doctor and sat in the room and cried about ‘her baby’ . The doctor lectured me saying ‘look what you’re doing to your poor mother. Look how upset she is. Why would you do this to her? You’re too young.’I left without a prescription. A year later, I went to the clinic ALONE and got a prescription. No one told me that antibiotics would affect the effectiveness of my birth control pill. I was pregnant 6 months later and had a baby shortly after turning 17. If my mom had known I was taking birth control, apparently, she would have told me about the effects of antibiotics. But apparently that was the one thing she and I just couldn’t talk about.”
Jeff Hull: “I don’t have a daughter but I wasn’t given a condom either at 15. Yet at 54 I don’t have children.”
Mary Svetlik Watkins: “We’d definitely talk about it. Her dreams and goals are too important to be hindered by pregnancy. I also want her to insist on condoms until she’s in a monogamous relationship. My mom told me that if I felt the need to have sex, I needed to make sure I was protected from pregnancy and STDs.”
