we spend years worrying about unplanned pregnancy fearing that our contraception efforts might fail; now that we want to get pregnant we worry that that our contraception efforts may have worked too well. could there be long-term effects of contraception that might be keeping us from conceiving? let's review them briefly and put your mind at ease. 1. combined hormonal methods (e. g. birth control pills the patch and the vaginal ring). these methods are all similar and do not have any long term impact on fertility. we expect your periods to have returned to your normal cycle (whatever that means for you) within 3 months of stopping all of these methods. 2. progesterone only methods (the progesterone only pill the 3 month shot the 3 year implant). we also expect these methods to wear off in 3 months. the shot is a little different in that it is 3 months after the next shot is due (since each shot works for 3 months this would be 6 months after the last shot). again no long term impact on fertility 3. intrauterine device (iud). the iuds currently on the market in the us have a wonderful track record with regards to fertility (which has not the case years ago with an iud that is no longer available). although fertility may be present immediately with either of the two iuds currently available it would be reasonable to expect the progesterone based iud to take about 3 months to clear your system as well 4. diaphragms condoms and spermicides. these methods are only effective when you use them so fertility is immediately restored when you do not use them. condoms have the additional benefit of protecting against sexually transmitted diseases as well. so where are the concerns regarding fertility? some of these methods protect wonderfully against pregnancy but offer no protection against sexually transmitted diseases the real villains with respect to fertility. for most women the transition from their birth control method to trying for pregnancy should be fairly smooth. . the methods of birth control generally donot affects the fertility.
could my previous method of birth control affect my fertility?