In spring of last year, I finally got it: a referral to a surgeon to discuss my sterilization. I prepared my plea ahead of time: I’ve always been sure I don’t want to go through pregnancy and bear a child; if we change our minds, my fiancée (now wife) can have kids biologically; I have a bunch of kids in my life that I help care for already; and this would be gender-validating surgery for me.
My Mirena and I are best friends. I once struggled with terrible cramps, long periods, and forgetting to take my birth control pill—but the Mirena changed all of that.
My journey to the IUD was a rocky one. By the time I was 27, I had tried various brands of the birth control pill, which I started when I was 18, but I hadn’t ever found the right fit. From forgetting to take it, to leaving it at home during a weekend trip, to having side effects including a low sex-drive and intense mood swings, I had major issues with that particular method.
I have a chronic reproductive illness called endometriosis. It took years of bad experiences with my period and birth control to even find out I have endometriosis, much less get help for it, but the Mirena IUD finally gave me the relief that I needed from this horrific illness. While birth control didn’t literally save my life, it certainly saved my quality of life.
When you hear the words “birth control,” you might immediately think of the pill, intrauterine device (IUD), or implant. But many people still prefer…