Hundreds of thousands of women, across the country and worldwide, use some sort of pharmaceutical birth control method or oral contraceptive such as the pill to prevent pregnancy while engaging in sex. But can these contraceptive methods cause infertility?

Some women use pharmaceutical contraception to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Others, however, use it as a means of spacing the births of their children. For those in the latter category, many fear that continuing to use pharmaceutical birth control will increase their chances of infertility and possibly prevent them from having children in the future.