Is 12 too early to start on birth control?
Your situation is certainly a difficult one, and I respect your attitude of wanting to protect your daughter as best you can. Yes, there are risks with birth control. There are also significant risks if she were to become pregnant, so the best option may indeed be an oral contraceptive pill (OCP) if you do not think she will use condoms everytime. There are many myths and misconceptions about OCPs. The good news is that today’s OCPs are very different from the pills of yesterday. Many of theses myths are tied to the fact that the old pills had much higher doses of hormones that could cause problems. Today’s OCPs have far lower doseages. And doctors do prescribe them for teens and even pre-teens, both for birth control and sometimes just to help regulate cycles. The low dose of hormones in OCPs is unlikely to affect your daughter’s growth. And some studies have shown that OCP use actually decreases the risk for ovarian and uterine cancer. The hormones do seem to increase the risk for bl
