• Question: Can the contraceptive implant in your arm affect your fertilty or anything else?

    Asked by wendywetpants to Sara, Kimberley, Julia, Amy on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hello wendywetpants!

      I have spoken to my friend Dr. Ed and he says that obviously short term it does – because that is the point of it…to stop you getting pregnant. But that longterm there is no known affect on fertility – although it could of course vary between people. So you can’t definitively say that it “definitely won’t”.

      Was that helpful enough? 🙂

    • Photo: Kimberley Bryon

      Kimberley Bryon answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hello Wendy,

      The contraceptive implant is brilliant because although it is very effective at and stopping you getting pregnant whilst you are using it (3 years per implant), once it is removed, you wish to get pregnant, your fertility returns back to normal almost straight away.

      There are some side effects of using it, like most hormonal contraceptives there is a slight increased risk of some kinds of cancer (although it protects against others) and it may cause weight loss, or headaches as well as other minor side effects.

      I would just like to add that although it protects you from getting pregnant it doesn’t give any protection from STDs.

      If you want to know any more info about it or how it works just leave a comment.

    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      hey… Its just like the pill, so no it doens;t have a long term effect on pregnancy. They do recommend that if your trying to get pregnant after coming off the pill, you wait a month or two so your cycle reregulates, altho not always nessesary.

      The implant just controls and slowly releases hormones to stop you getting pregnant so you dont have to worry about forgetting to take a pill!

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hello wendy! I think these ladies have really done a great job describing the risks. Most contraceptives (including the implant) work by releasing hormones such the artificial hormone called progestin. This prevents pregnancy by thickening the cervical mucus so that sperm can’t get into the uterus and by stopping ovulation. As soon as you stop taking the hormones, the effects wear off.

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