Thank you, birth control! 

From family planning, STD prevention, and more - birth control helps people live healthy lives and gives folks the power to decide their futures. Join us in saying “Thx Birth Control,” in honor of Birth Control Day, which takes place every November. Read our patient stories to learn how their lives have been impacted by their use of birth control.

PPMM Storyteller, Lissa from Alameda, shares her story. 

My boyfriend and I went to Planned Parenthood in high school for birth control because I had no other way to get it. My mother had her first baby at 17, her second at 20 - which was me. This - had a huge negative impact on her life. She spent many years struggling as a single parent.

I was terrified to end up in a similar situation. Planned Parenthood was a place to get what we needed to feel comfortable to progress our relationship, without risking our futures.

We went on to have happy and successful college years. We moved in together at age 20, married at 24. When we were ready, we started having kids at 26. 

We now have two beautiful daughters, ages 15 and 13. Because of the help Planned Parenthood gave us, we have been able to provide a stable and loving home for our children - the children we always wanted, but when we were ready.

We speak to our daughters a lot about how important Planned Parenthood is and that we need to keep working to protect women's health rights. All four is us will keep fighting!

PPMM Storyteller, Holly from Murphys, shares her story.

Birth control became essential for me when I started experiencing hormonal imbalance in my mid-twenties. I would have extremely painful menstrual cycles, to the point of blacking out, and I became anemic.

Some months I would be spotting nonstop between cycles. I tried to treat myself with herbal remedies,  but it was birth control that got my cycles under control and made my life easier again.

Over the years that I have been on the Pill, my pain has steadily decreased. I used to fear going to work on my cycle because of the pain. But now I can manage a full work schedule and live a normal life -- not to mention the benefits of being a married woman with the ability to choose whether and when to have children.