Preventing Babies, the Old-Fashioned Way

Men, skip this post. A new study revives a very old method of birth control, and it's not happy news for you. Withdrawal, says the Guttmacher Institute [1], is not a bad way to go. Many studies, and couples, don't really consider it a "method" so they don't talk about it or study it. But turns out it's almost as good as condoms (for pregnancy prevention, not for preventing transmission of diseases). For a couple that uses withdrawal every time they have sex, the woman has a four percent chance of getting pregnant, or a "realistic" chance of 18 percent. With condoms, it's a two percent and 18 percent.

Among the responsible class, withdrawal is having a revival as the more natural method. "You can still keep going, you can still have sex, it doesn't smell bad, [and] it doesn't have chemicals in it," one woman told the researchers.

Withdrawal will never have the glory of condoms. Going to the pharmacy to buy condoms is a teenage rite of passage, featured in every movie from Porky's to Dazed and Confused. Men can brag to their friends about using the condom. Not so much about withdrawal. Still, it's starting to have a kind of slacker appeal.

"I like pulling out in some ways-I see the yield," said one male participant. "At least it's some half-assed effort."