Contraception 'influences choice of partner'

Wednesday, 12 October 2011 11:57 AM

Hormones in your contraceptive pill may be influencing your romantic choices, if new research is to be believed. Women on the pill and on the pull are more likely to be less sexually satisfied or attracted to their new partners but more satisfied with other aspects of the relationship - giving the relationship staying power - according to a study quoted in the Royal Society journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Dr Craig Roberts said: “Our results show some positive and negative consequences of using the pill when a woman meets her partner. Such women may, on average, be less satisfied with the sexual aspects of their relationship, but more so with non-sexual aspects."

But women who were taking the pill when they met their partner had longer relationships by two years on average. The team theorise that women go on the pill switch their preference towards the odour of more genetically similar men. This might mean that women using the pill choose different men than they would otherwise choose.

Dr Roberts concludes: “Choosing a non-hormonal barrier method of contraception for a few months before getting married might be one way for a woman to check or reassure herself that she’s still attracted to her partner.”
 

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