This could mean you may experience an earlier menopause and have fewer fertile years in which to have children. The pill has a significant suppressing effect on two markers of ovarian reserve, which are used to estimate how many fertile years a woman has before she reaches menopause. The pill suppresses levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) in the blood as well as the number of antral follicles in the ovaries, which can be measured with an ultrasound. Women in their late 30s who are having fertility problems are typically assessed for these two markers.

According to lead researcher Dr Birch Petersen from the Copenhagen University Hospital, “We expected to find an effect of the pill, but during the project we were surprised at the quantified effect on ovarian reserve parameters as defined by anti-Mullerian hormone, antral follicle count and ovarian volume.

Even after adjusting for age, BMI, smoking, maternal age at menopause, maternal smoking during pregnancy and prematurity, AMH was still up to 30% lower and AFC up to 20% lower in pill users than in non-pill users.”
The authors of this study stressed that it’s not yet confirmed whether the pill definitely does cause an earlier menopause. More research is required. The contraceptive pill is convenient, but it can clearly have significant detrimental health effects. For information on how to keep your hormones balanced and optimize fertility, see the book How Not To Kill Your Husband.

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