How can you get pregnant on birth control?

Question

I know many women have gotten pregnant while on Birth Control even after taking them like they should, with that in mind, how do they become pregnant? I know that with BC you do not ovulate so how is pregnancy possible? Thanks

Answer 1

With current low dose pill if you don't take it with in an hour of the same time of day you will get reduced effectiveness.

Other factors that reduce efficacy:
• Antibiotics
• Other medications (my migraine meds)
• Illness
• Stress

Even if you don't have any of the above, it still happens, but usually one of the above is a contributing factor.

This is just a story I like (true): Husband and wife had 2 kids, didn't want any more so husband got a vasectomy. OOPS, here comes #3, after #3 wife gets her tubes tied and a year later along comes #4!
Even surgical solutions are not 100% (unless the woman has both ovaries and uterus taken out)

Answer 2

Heh heh... I am one of those that got pregnant while on birth control. My problem was that my entire system got messed up because I wasn't taking the placebos for about five months. I was super stressed by some life situations and didn't want to deal with any hormonal imbalances due to "that time of the month" so I just didn't take the placebos.

That was mistake number one.

Mistake number two was not knowing enough about what I was taking to know that there is a chemical compound in grapefruit juice that renders birth control (oral) totally useless. I was taking my pill every morning with a glass of grapefruit juice. I ovulated, the love of my life got back from overseas, we did the deed, and lo and behold! Baby nine months later.

Answer 3

It depends on the type of birth control and the fact that sometimes things are just ouf of our control. With certain pills, also known as "mini-pills," only one hormone is used to thicken the lining of the cervix to stop sperm from entering the uterus but they don't prevent ovulation from occuring. So, if you're on the mini-pill, you are still ovulating and if some sperm does enter the uterus you could become pregnant.

With other women on the regular pill, patch, shot, ring, etc, it's just plain rotten luck that for some unknown and uncontrollable reason they ovulated despite the hormones trying to suppress that action.

There are some things in this life that we can absolutely control and our fertility, sadly, isn't one of them. Despite our best efforts to prevent it, sometimes it just happens and there's really no reason for it. My sisters both won the birth control failure rate lottery through no fault of their own. Sometimes it just happens.

Also, let's assume that all the women on birth control used it perfectly. That would mean that it is 99% effective or that 1 out of every 100 women would become pregnant that year. There are HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of women on birth control all around the world and some of them do try to use it perfectly. Even with a typical effectiveness rate of 97%, that's 3 out of every 100 women becomming pregnant, and when you compare that to the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of women on birth control - the numbers can add up quickly. Even if there were only 1,000,000 women using the pill perfectly, that would still amount to 10,000 women becomming pregnant that year. Extrapolate that to the hundreds of millions of women on birth control and you can see why this is so widespread.

Answer 4

The pill is only 99% effective. I got pregnant while on birth control, but I was on an antibiotic at the time and that interferes with the BC, so that is another way you can get PG on BC.

Answer 5

Birth control is 99% accurate, unless it's not used properly, which happens a lot. A lot of women think they are using it correctly, but they are not, and find themselves pregnant. Also, some women don't respond well to birth control, and this is a possibility to why women get pregnant while on it.

Answer 6

The bcp is not 100% effective (only 99% when taken correctly), which means that sometimes in some cases you can ovulate. This in turn can lead to pregnancy. I know - it happened to me! I was on the pill for over 7 years, took it correctly and religiously everyday. Whoops! Now I'm 23 weeks preggo. It can happen!

Answer 7

Most people who do get pregnant while on the pill are NOT using it correctly. Plus there are things that can make the Pill not effective, like certain antibiotics and some herbal supplements. Also, if you are sick and have vomiting or diarrhea, it can cause you to be getting rid of the pill before your system has absorbed it. I had a friend who got pregnant while on the pill because she was taking antibiotics. Two years later, it happened again.

Answer 8

I got pregnant on birth control. I didn't skip a pill or take antibiotics or vomit. There's just a 1% chance that you could still ovulate. Not every pill works for everyone, I guess.

Answer 9

I don't know. Ask both of my kids. I was on birth control when I conceived with both of them.

I think, though, it has something to do with the change of pace. Although I never missed a pill (EVER), both of the times that I got pregnant, I was on vacation, RELAXING. That's something I never get to do.

We got pregnant at the river here in Texas BOTH times. lol

... Maybe I just shouldn't go to the river...? ;-)

I don't know what does it, seriously, but there ARE a lot of women who get knocked up on BC.

Answer 10

I have a friend who has two BC children, the first was from the pill and the second from the patch they are 4 years apart and she did everything properly so you tell me. Its not always effective depends on your body really I would guess. Also I have heard several times that weight can be a factor especially with the patch.