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From: hayden@pyrite.DEC
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re:birth control
Message-ID: <1101@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 15-Mar-85 18:02:12 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.1101
Posted: Fri Mar 15 18:02:12 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Mar-85 02:33:20 EST
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
Lines: 37


	I did birth control and pregnancy counseling for quite awhile 
and wanted to add my 2 cents worth to this discussion. Some of the
following were factors in the unwanted pregnancies that I saw:
	1. Some couples feel guilty about having sex and so do not
prepare ahead of time because that would be admitting pre-meditation. 
These were generally young, unmarried couples from strict, religious
families. The most extreme case I saw was a woman that came in
8.5 months pregnant for a pregnancy test. Although she lived at home
with her mother, neither of them allowed themselves to see her fully
developed stomach. She had the baby that night. Perfect case of 
"denial".
	2. Oftentimes couples (single or married) practice birth
control consistently for years. Then one or both of them start
having ambivalent feelings about pregnancy - they are getting
older, feeling more settled, want to have a kid/not quite ready
yet. They become more inconsistent about birth control.
	3. Some couples are well meaning but ignorant in terms
of their biology/birth control knowledge.

	Since sex and pregnancy are such emotional issues that
are often at the base of whether someone practices birth
control or not, I would be interested in hearing the following:
	a. Whether people actually discuss their attitudes
about sex before intercourse (what sex means to them, how it
will impact the relationship, etc.).
	b. Whether couples discuss what they would do in
the case of an unwanted pregnancy prior to intercourse.
	
	Please, I do not want this to get into a discussion
of abortion. Save that for another net.

Thanks,
Janice Hayden

uucp: ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-pyrite!hayden
arpa: ...hayden%pyrite.dec@decwrl.arpa