Many forms of birth control are available to couples. However, an ideal method—one that is 100% effective, completely safe, with no side effects, reversible, separate from sexual activity, inexpensive, easy to obtain, usable by either sex, and not dependent on the user’s memory—is unavailable now and in the foreseeable future. Each current method has advantages […]

Each birth control method has its advantages and disadvantages. An individual or a couple might find that one method suits a certain situation best (Gordon & Pitts, 2012). Sharing the responsibility enhances a particular method’s use. It Takes Two Research shows that more couples share contraceptive decision making now than in the past (Grady et […]

Worldwide contraceptive use has increased dramatically in the last several decades: An estimated 63% of partnered women of reproductive age practice contraception. Unfortunately, the use of modern contraceptives by the poorest of the world’s poor in developing countries remains low. For example, only 6% of married women in Nigeria, compared to more than 70% in […]

In the United States, 99% of the approximately 62 million women of reproductive age have used contraception at one time or another (Jones & Dreweke, 2011). Fur­thermore, the typical heterosexual woman may need some form of contraception for 30 or more years because she is only trying to become pregnant, or is pregnant, for a […]

Although we may take for granted the variety of contraceptive, or birth control, meth­ods available in the United States today, this situation is quite recent. Throughout American history both the methods available for contraception and the laws concern­ing their use have been restrictive. In the 1870s, Anthony Comstock, then secretary of the New York Society […]

People’s concern with controlling conception goes back at least to the beginning of recorded history. In ancient Egypt women placed dried crocodile dung next to the cervix to prevent conception. In 6th-century Greece, eating the uterus, testis, or hoof paring of a mule was recommended. In more recent historical times, the 18th-century Italian adventurer Giovanni […]

Traditionally, a family has been considered to consist of a heterosexual couple and their children, but many forms of family life exist in contemporary society. Surveys indicate that between 45% and 80% of lesbians and between 40% and 60% of gay men are currently in a steady relationship, and many have long-term cohabiting relation­ships (National […]

Homosexual men and women differ in the average number of their sexual partners. Lesbians are likely to have had far fewer sexual partners, and lesbian couples are much more likely than male couples to have monogamous relationships (Dube, 2000; Roth — blum, 2000). Lesbians associate emotional closeness with sex more than do gay men, a […]

The Gottman Institute conducted a 12-year study of gay and lesbian couples to exam­ine what makes same-sex relationships succeed or fail (Gottman et al., 2004). When the researchers compared the findings to results of their investigations with hetero­sexual couples, they discovered that overall relationship satisfaction and quality were similar for lesbian, gay, and straight couples. […]

We sometimes hear references to the "gay lifestyle" in popular vernacular. What is the gay lifestyle exactly? The term does not imply that all gays engage in the same work, recreation, and spiritual activities. The word lifestyle seems to be a euphemism for sexual conduct between same-sex partners (Howey & Samuels, 2000). There is no […]