Withdrawal (pull-out method)

If you want to stick with a method that doesn’t require talking to a health care provider, condoms and the over-the-counter birth control pill are more effective at preventing pregnancy than withdrawal (a.k.a., the pull-out method) and available with a prescription.

If you want to stick with a method that doesn’t require talking to a health care provider, condoms and the over-the-counter birth control pill are more effective and available with a prescription.

If you don’t mind visiting your health care provider for a prescription or procedure, you might want to check out one of the most effective methods: IUD, implant, shot, ring, patch, or pill.

The withdrawal method (a.k.a. pulling out) dates all the way back to the Bible’s book of Genesis. Today, the best studies suggest that the majority of people in the U.S. have used the pull out method for birth control at least once in their lives.

Currently, the only birth control options for people who produce sperm are condoms, sterilization, and the pull-out method. There have been some promising leads for other options, but they’re all still in development.

If the partner with a penis pulls out perfectly every single time and no semen gets on the vulva or vagina, then withdrawal is about 96% effective. This is a hard method to get perfect, though, so it’s more likely that withdrawal will be around 80% effective in real life.

In other words:

For people who use withdrawal perfectly every single time for a whole year, about 4 in 100 will get pregnant when they don’t want to during the first year they use the pull-out method.

For people who use withdrawal as people typically use it, about 20 in 100 will get pregnant when they don’t want to during the first year they use the pull-out method.

Everyone is different, so there are no universal signals to look out for. Communicating with your partner will help. If you want to use the pull out method for birth control but your partner is unsure what their signals are, practice with a condom first, or it might be fun to mess around without penetrative sex to learn their “I’m getting close” quirks.