Why the 'Quitting Birth Control' Trend Is More Dangerous Than It Sounds
- Aubrey Weaver
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Intern. The Ruth Collective
07/01/2025
As a 21-year-old woman, my social media feeds are full of content the algorithm thinks I will engage with based on my demographic, shopping hauls, get-ready-with-me videos, and, more recently, viral videos from creators detailing their decisions to stop hormonal contraception. While I fully support bodily autonomy and women making informed choices, many of these posts spread misinformation that fuels unnecessary fear.
Take Olivia Boblet, a TikTok creator I –and half a million others– follow for her foster rescue
dog content, which is so enjoyable and adorable. A few months ago, she posted about quitting birth control. Tearily citing concerns, she said, "Do I have a brain tumor, cancer, or is it just my birth control?" It was a dramatic message implying that birth control could mimic the physical effects of those life-threatening illnesses. She then documented a multi-day "prep" process in her follow-up videos, ahead of discontinuing her birth control, involving special teas and supplements, framing it like preparation for heavy withdrawal.
The comments were flooded with women sharing their own stories, some valid and linked to medically-backed side effects of birth control, which were predominantly hormonal, like mood swings, acne, and menstrual or weight fluctuation. Other comments were more extreme, equating quitting contraception to sobriety or a "cleanse," as you would expect with addictive substances like hard drugs. Comments like, "I didn’t recognize myself on birth control," “I was a completely different person,” “quitting was the best thing I ever did,” or “it took months to feel normal again,” distorts the reality of stopping birth control and may sow fear in some women who may be considering taking or continuing hormonal birth control.
In reality, stopping hormonal birth control is a rather uncomplicated process. According to Dr. Stacy Sun, an OB-GYN at the University of Rochester Medical Center, "If you’re on the pill, patch, or ring, the easiest way is to simply…stop. You don't need to ask a provider for permission" (URMC, 2024). Except for the Depo-Provera shot, contraceptives leave the body within hours to days after discontinuation (Brown University Health, 2024). While hormone fluctuations can occur, they are not solely linked to birth control.
Multiple studies by Emily Pfender, a postdoctoral researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have shown that social media platforms are flooded with negative messaging about birth control use. She writes, “In a 2023 study that I did with a colleague, 74% of YouTube influencers sampled who spoke about birth control encouraged discontinuation of contraception. A 2024 TikTok study by my team found that nearly 50% of the posts about birth control that we analyzed promoted the same idea.” (STAT, 2024).
A 2023 U.S. National Center for Health Statistics report found contraceptive pill use declined between 2006 and 2019, while condoms and withdrawal, which are less effective methods, rose (Journalist’s Resource, 2023). The American Medical Association warns that myths are driving more women to discontinue contraception, leaving them more vulnerable in a post-Roe world (AMA, 2024).
The solution starts with advocating for better sex education, though policy change takes time. Research by the National Institutes of Health in 2020 has found that comprehensive sex education leads to increased odds of contraceptive use at first intercourse. Comprehensive sex education was also found to be associated with longer delays in first intercourse, which also helps decrease teen pregnancy, protecting those in restrictive states from encountering unwanted pregnancies (NIH, 2020).
In the meantime, we all need to do our part to bring discourse on birth control back to reality. If you see exaggerated claims online, encourage others to consult a doctor, not social media. Consider sharing any positive, or even seemingly mundane, experiences with birth control from your point-of-view. What seems small about your contraceptive experience might encourage someone else. Seeing both sides of the debate on contraception would be very beneficial in helping those who are questioning see more than just the extremely negative side that persists online.
To address the issue of “conflicting or misleading information” about birth control online, a new digital resource called Bedsider Providers has been created to help health care professionals navigate birth control conversations with confidence. Their partner website, Bedsider.org is a database of information provided by medical experts about reproductive health, including contraceptive use for anyone with questions (Power to Decide, 2025).
Birth control is not perfect. Pre-existing conditions and individual factors might make certain forms better or worse for different individuals, but it is safe and remains one of the best defenses against unwanted pregnancy. In a landscape where abortion access is disappearing, we cannot afford to let myths dictate our choices.
Sources:
American Medical Association. (2024). What doctors wish patients knew about birth control. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-birth-control
Brown University Health. (2024). Birth control FAQs. https://www.brownhealth.org/be-well/getting-birth-control-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=The%20length%20of%20time%20that,before%20starting%20or%20changing%20methods.
Journalist’s Resource. (2023). How birth control is discussed on social media. https://journalistsresource.org/health/how-birth-control-is-discussed-on-social-media/
National Institutes of Health (2020) Sex education and contraceptive use of adolescent and young adult females in the United States: an analysis of the National Survey of Family Growth 2011–2017
Power to Decide (2025) Providers Can Set the Record Straight on Birth Control
STAT News (2024) Social media misinformation is scaring women about birth control. https://www.statnews.com/2024/11/05/social-media-misinformation-is-scaring-women-about-birth-control/
University of Rochester Medical Center. (2024). How to stop birth control. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/publications/health-matters/how-to-stop-birth-control
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