The Psychological Impact Of Hormonal Birth Control - Dr Sarah Hill 

One of the wildest episodes I’ve done this year, fascinating stuff, enjoy! Here’s the timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:23 How Hormonal Changes Influence Behaviour 07:27 Learning About Hormones Shouldn’t Be Uncomfortable for Women 15:57 The Consequences of Using Hormonal Birth Control 29:03 Is Birth Control a Cause of the Mating Crisis? 40:44 How Birth Control Impacts Sexual Orientation 46:23 Does Birth Control Increase Depression? 54:38 Can Men Sense Ovulation in Women? 1:02:12 Looking to the Future of Birth Control 1:09:45 Where to Find Dr Hill

I recommend anybody who finds this fascinating, to watch Derek from more plates more dates and his take on female birth control. Because ultimately it is chemically castrating women and most people don't think about it this way, they think it's not a big deal and he really opened my eyes to what birth control really is for females.

Never again for me. With 16, I had really bad acne and it was common at that time to get the pill prescribed . One of the worst decisions I made in my life. After that I got really bad depression phases on and on, vaginal fungus nearly every month, headaches and my libido was non existent. I also was so dry „down there“, that every sexual activity was so painful for me, that I stopped to have sex. I never even thought about it, that the pill could be the cause. I only thought , that there is something wrong with me. This went on, till 22. I also changed the pill a few times. With 22 I had to stop with the pill, because my blood was bad and I was at risk to get thrombosis. I mention , that I’m a women with 58kg and I never smoked. After that my life changed completely within a few month. All the symptoms were gone and sex got enjoyable for me, for the first time. Yes …. My acne came back and it took 5 years to clear it up, but who cares, I enjoyed my life and felt like myself for the first time. I also suffered from infertility for nearly 2 years. All gynecologist’s said , that I had pcos. My ovaries were full of cysts. And the only therapy would be, to take the pill. So I should take the pill to get fertile, somehow strange. I said no and changed my lifestyle. The cysts got healed and I have two healthy ovaries now. After all this years , I found only one doctor, who said to me, that the pill was the cause of my infertility. Somehow sad.

I remember senior year of HS/freshman year of college when all my friends went on birth control and they all hated it. I remember one girl looking at herself in the mirror complaining about her acne and weight gain crying. Just watching them go through that put me off. I also never saw the use of it for me personally, but my doctors always pushed me to be on it even though I had no use for it. I always thought that was weird

I tried hormonal birth control in my early 20s - two different types of pills. My doctor kept assuring me that I just needed to "find the right one." Never again. I had every bad side effect imaginable. Acne, mood swings, sore breasts and bloated 24/7, lower back pain, no libido, anxiety (I had my first panic attack on the pill and NEVER again once I went off), depression and finally suicidal thoughts. I could not understand why I was feeling this way and it terrified me. Once I realized it was the pill I told my doctor no more and went off. She still wanted me to try other forms of hormones. NOPE. It took about a year until I felt like myself again. Oh and I was no longer attracted to my wonderful boyfriend at the time. Felt horrible about it. I really wish more young women understood how awful this stuff can be. Fertility awareness definitely works (my method for the last decade) and is all natural!

I usually know when my wife is fertile. She just acts differently. She is more flirtatious, more affectionate, takes more time to get her makeup perfect and she wears more skirts and dresses. Just more feminine. And she is definitely more intimate! This all happened after she got off the pill. (that's a lot of mores!)

Two years ago I made a conscious decision to go off all birth control - and instead become incredibly selective about my sexual partners. I promised myself I would only be sexually intimate with men who: 1) per their character, their child I would be honored to carry 2) men who I trusted would stick around to care for me and said possible child, and 3) men who made me feel 💯 safe; emotionally, personally and financially. The biggest surprise I experienced was how positively inspiring my stance was to *every* man I’ve since met. They LOVED it. It seemed like sharing my sexual standard with them actually awakened a deep, ancestral memory calling to step into the masculine mindset of proving themselves “worthy” of access to a woman’s heart + body. I’ve never felt more respected by men. Ladies, it’s a game-changer. Sure, it takes discipline. You’ll be alone, you’ll have way less (casual) sex. But your world will open up in ways you never imagined. My entire life changed when I dropped the lies of second-wave feminism and stopped trying to fight millions of years of evolutionary biology to instead lean into the strength of TRUE feminine power - our role as the sexual selectors and movers-forward of the Human species. LOVE this interview, thank you Chris!!!

My partner started birth control during our relationship and the differences were night and day. Before the hormones she would often compliment me on my masculinity and had libido. Afterwards it’s like we’re just live in roommates; no interest in my body, no libido, much more mechanical thinking. She had debilitating menstrual cycles so I’m glad she’s not suffering every month like she used to but to say the changes haven’t strained aspects of our relationship would be lying

This is what the Catholic Church has been teaching about birth control for the last 60+ years. There is a talk done by Dr. Janet Smith called “Contraception, Why not” and she goes into almost everything talked about in this video. This is awesome! Thank you for speaking the truth!

This happened to me 10 years ago. I had been on the pill for 13 years, throughout my 20s, and I was very emotional during that time. I felt depressed and ruined relationships. In 2012 I decided to come off the pill and use the FAM instead. In those first few months my mental health improved - I felt amazing! I reached out to my family and friends. Also, my taste in men switched from slim build to muscular! I haven’t touched the pill since.

I saw it firsthand in my sister, weight gain, anxiety, depression. Found out later through reading about estrogen from the Endocrinologist Ray Peat that it is a growth factor and lowers mitochondrial respiration. I understand its incredibly liberating for some but it seems the estrogen industry tried to cover up that REAL progesterone can be used for the same purpose in sufficiently high quantities but its very expensive to make (relative to estrogens) bio-identitical so they end up making synthetic progestins which are estrogenic in action because of the Estrane skeleton. No one should have to deal with this.

Considering the discussion in this episode, have we seen this shift in unhappy marriages and divorce initiated by women because they choose their partners while on birth control? Therefore they choose less so on masculinity and physical attraction and then when they decide to get married and have kids and come off the pill, they basically wake up to an unattractive partner. Thus we’re going to get less sexual satisfaction in the marriage over time, less attraction, etc. that leaves a lot on personalities alone to keep people together, plus marriages with little to no sex are typically unhappy for both partners. Man if true this really sucks!

One of the main problem lies with a lot women, and men too. Having their emotions decide for them, people dont sit down and rationalize what kind of person they should have relations with.

My daughter had horrible periods , acne and would miss 3 days of school each cycle. Birth control was a game changer for her, skin cleared up, lost weight, not in pain. For some women it’s great

When I didn't take birth control: Horrible acne, overweight, crabby, cried days on end, couldn't go to work from pain, over eating and throwing up, manic shopping Now that I'm on birth control: rare acne, losing Weight, friendlier, don't cry as often , missing less work, never throw up, saving money Also I ain't anyone's type so my sex life is just a conspiracy theory at this point. But Birth control has helped me manage many things better and I am looking better than when I was 18 before I got started on it. Some people's natural hormones just attack them

Tricking your body in being pregnant for years takes a toll on your body and mind!! Not only is it unnatural but moreover it is messing up your normal hormones which have a huge impact on all of your body and senses. I could even imagine getting older much faster. This video just reassures everything I was imagining. Let alone all the 'side effects' up until death from thrombosis, heart failures etc.

The birth control pill absolutely was the watershed moment that altered the course of mating and how it works....a.k.a. put us on the course that led to the mating crisis. It isn't the only factor, but it's a major moment in human history as a species

This is just fascinating and NEEDS to be discussed openly and thoroughly. I know several women who have different feelings toward their partners after coming off hormonal birth control, it’s wild. My anecdotal contribution: I’m very fortunate that I didn’t fall in the feminism trap… but I DID go on low dose hormonal birth control at 15 as a result of heavy periods/bad cramps. It was prescribed quickly and casually and with a side note “and you’re protected too”… which ironically was totally unnecessary because I had no intention of getting into bed with anyone but my future husband (not a religious decision, just choosy… and trust me I had plenty of opportunity. 5’1, blonde, green eyes, hourglass figure, ballet dancer… I had options.) I’m grateful it didn’t impact my ability to choose my husband negatively because I still selected a man that is very alpha (in the healthy sense) and traditionally masculine, physical, strong, good looking, AND a great provider and protector with access to his emotions, good sense of humor, caring, generous in bed … yes he’s really that great, and he was the first man I let have access to me which was one of the best decisions of my life. It’s interesting what she said about coming off birth control making you MORE interested in a sexually appealing partner because wow did that happen to me! I’ve always had a high sex drive (even when not engaging in sex), had a very high physical attraction quotient for him and we had a lot of great sex from the start, but wow when I switched from hormonal birth control to the copper iud my interest and sex drive went even Higher and he was (is!) even MORE attractive to me. 13 years married/15 years together this continues to be the case… and the way he smells to me, omg that was one thing that spiked too, he laughs at me a little sometimes because I just want to climb him like a tree when he comes home from work a little sweaty and just reeking of testosterone and cologne (and sometimes the very faint whiff of underlying bullet proof vest/plate carrier 😉). Other things I noticed: - much more level mood especially when my body readjusted - periods were heavy again for a bit, but after about 2 years leveled out to better than they were even on hormonal birth control - better orgasms… and they were already great to begin with 🙌🏻 Those are the most obvious ones. The world of hormones is complex and fascinating and we’re all doing ourselves a disservice by not discussing it openly and frankly and honestly so I love conversations like this.

Been using the symtothermal method of cycle charting for 8 Years succesfully. And the Insight into your body and how it works is insanely interesting!

The pill was almost certainly a major cause of my divorce. I got snipped (my choice), she went off the pill. Her libido jumped up dramatically, but her preference in men also changed dramatically.

I originally went on the pill at 18 to balance my hormones, not mainly for preventing pregnancy. It got rid of my cystic acne and painful heavy periods. I dont miss my periods and acne and wonder if i had undiagnosed endometriosis, pcos, or fibroids.

This happened with my (now) ex wife. I'm a "5" in looks department, and when my (ex) wife stopped taking hormonal birth control, she just lost interest in intimacy with me... she was usually irritable and full of reasons why intimacy was NOT on her schedule... eventually, for years. I believe she did try to spark something, but she became more irritable. Eventually, she found nearly all of my shortcomings, and filed for a rather contentious divorce... at first. She, about a year later, made a gesture of a "truce" towards me, and suddenly just backed off of the hostility she felt when dealing with me. She was angry on how things happened between us, but didn't know why she felt the way she did, other than it was "regretful". It was after she had to have a complete hysterectomy much later of our divorce she actually and sincerely apologized for her behavior during the divorce. She was put on HRT to regulate her hormones... like she was, back when I first met her...

Yeah my girlfriend just stopped taking her birth control after 11 years, wish us luck 😅

Extremely interesting discussion! I've never thought about it like this, but we as a society both know that hormones have drastic changes on behaviors, but also (confusingly) assume that all of our preferences regarding our partners are innate and not influenced by hormonal changes.

Incredibly important conversation, I'm so glad I tuned in. When I turned 14 my mother tried to force me onto birth control because she was terrified I'd get pregnant as a teenager following in her footsteps. She kept pushing and pushing (and at the time I was strongly baptist and was adamant on waiting to marriage). I finally snapped one day and sent my father an email containing every one of the studies that were brought up about side effects, brain changes, mood changes, physical effects and that put an end to her pushing. Personally I didn't want to chemically be someone I wasn't, I wanted to be the natural version of myself untampered with and so years later I got a copper IUD. The only time I ever have touched hormonal anything was taking plan B once, and it messed me up so badly about 8 hours after taking it. I'd been content for most of the day, all of the sudden in the snap of of a finger I was crying uncontrollably and the entire night it was like a pendulum swinging back and forth between anger and crying with absolutely no reason. That really reinforced my convictions that hormonal birth control was not for me. I dated and eventually married an objectively very masculine man, and I've always been attracted to very masculine men. It really makes me wonder how many girls start hormonal birth control at 14 when they want to have sex, when their mothers pressure them, or they have normal period side effects and have been living in greyscale and don't know who they are without being medicated. Personally I couldn't recommend the copper IUD more, only side effect being periods were more painful for the first year and it hurt to get put in.

Damn Chris, your podcasts are a hub for knowledge, and your guests all bring together a fascinating view of the world. Times have been trying lately but, just taking a walk outside listening to this, even though the information is sometimes frightening, it really opens the mind and brightens life! Thank you so much for all you people's hard work

Fantastic conversation- well done Chris

I wonder what her thoughts are on the Copper IUD. I literally was going insane when I attempted hormonal birth control, but I and my husband really love my IUD. It's insane how much gets affected by messing w/hormones! I always felt like I was losing my mind on it, my libido vanished, I gained tons of weight & was super depressed...my Copper IUD has been a life saver!

Yup, the research for pregnant women preferring more neutered men is well-established from a while back. The idea that women on hormonal birth control, which simulates pregnancy to prevent further pregnancy, would have the same effect is kind of a no-brainer.

“Hey let’s take a Carcinogenic endocrine-disrupt or every month for decades, I’m sure it’s safe!”

Excellent discussion guys.

I loved this!!! As always your work doesn’t disappoint!!! Thanks Chris!

I used to not really like your podcast, but man, have you grown on me. Your ability to ask great questions and get your guests to cut into the core of their work. Well done. This conversation about birth control really opened my eyes to how society has changed because of it. The analogy of the deer was right on the nose.

This was amazing, such great info! Thank you!!

This is the most interesting interview I have listened to in a long time.

This was such an enlightening conversation, especially as a young man. Thank you both!!

What a great topic. This is Information the public should definitely be aware of.

Really great interview/podcast episode as always, Chris! Would be awesome if you had Dr. Sara Gottfried on to talk about this topic even more - her work in gynaecology and hormonal health is truly unparalleled. For those interested to learn more on this topic, Dr. Gottfried was recently on Huberman's podcast (100% recommend that episode). Would also recommend Dr. Stephanie Buttermore's series on training and the menstrual cycle (includes info about hormonal birth control as well).

Apparently, as Chris mentioned, I am not the only one to watch podcasts at 2X speed!!

Amazing stuff from Dr Hill, next stop JRE and Lex!!

An important and interesting discussion: CW deserves credit for wading into this difficult and controversial area.

"A conversation between mothers and daughters with fathers being silent" Any discussion that does not include an interested party, runs the risk of being rejected by that party. The idea that men should be silent at any point is one of the reasons we're seeing such open war between the sexes these days.

It’s so interesting to read in the comments about women who got acne after starting birth control. Birth control is the only thing I’ve found (so far) that REDUCES my acne! I’ve tried going off it twice and both times all of my cystic acne came flooding back. It was terrible for my self-esteem. I don’t enjoy the thought of being reliant on it to control my acne, but I think we also need to talk about how it can benefit some women. It’s certainly benefitted me in that respect (although I am wary about what else it may be doing). With that said, I can’t say I noticed a big difference in mood, libido and so forth whether I was on or off it.

It's always great to see things like these are discussed openly online.

I definitely agree with the comments, being susceptible to mind alterating prescriptions drugs for so long and how so much can change off of them. Unfathomable its just a societal and norm of the establishment. Learned a great sense of perspective from this. Thanks for posting Chris and to Dr. Hill for sharing the knowledge!

THIS IS SO FASCINATING!! Ahhh! Love it! ❤ I'm so glad I've never been on any kind of birth control

Wow. I have personally had my issues with birth control pills that perhaps made me slew more toward thinking naturally instead of imitation ‘feelings’ created from the hormones in the pill. This is fascinating and explains aLOT toward my confusion of what has happened in the world. I feel like we are being pushed toward ‘desiring’ only money and position and away from everything natural and fighting it so hard! This is fascinating and I will be rewatching it again and again. I could never wrap my brain around how weaker men and stronger women was supposed to be making everything better. And I wondered why everything changed since 2000 mostly (that’s when I really noticed, and was actually told that I would eventually settle down with someone I wasn’t currently attracted to because when you (me) ‘mature’ you will not look for who you are attracted to, but who will give you financial security…I never understood that, and even being perimenopausal now and never having experienced that, I understand it even less. I am still not impressed with money or stuff. Yet everywhere I look, it seems that’s all everyone else cares about! That’s messed up! It isn’t in nature to only care about money! Yes, females look to be taken care of and these days money is part of it, but it’s not everything! I’d even argue it is the least important thing…except for the fact that all of these ‘good providers’ are driving up the prices so high that we are all forced into that fake world just to afford the most basic bills. Low T epidemic explains a lot. Even calling it ‘low t’ to make it sound cool or ‘with it’ is disgusting. I think we must change back to nature (not unwanted pregnancies, but how about a happy medium?!?!) or we have no chance. Low t men will be the death of humanity and overly powerful women creating that situation. This is insanity.

This is so eye opening. I actually think you've cracked the code.

Wow amazing interview!

This was a great talk, which gave me new ideas I've never thought of before! So glad I stopped being on birth control years ago. I can't say that being on it changed my attraction to men though. I've always liked a few different types of men, and sometimes feminine looking men, but that was even before I ever started BC. I like the rugged muscular look too though.

I’m the textbook case here, yeesh. Given the pill as a teen for acne and dealt with massive depression/agoraphobia/anxiety for next ten years. At 41 I’m a few months free of the birth control and anti-depressants and feeling much clearer; my cycle is better, the PMDD I have is shorter, I’m facing my emotions and learning how to deal with them and although I haven’t dated in a few years I’m becoming more interested in that again, with the knowledge that I have to choose very carefully. It’s a brave new world 😅 Thanks for this chat 👍

Thank you very much for the episode. Learnt a lot.

This is an exciting conversation.

Women’s sexuality is considered unimportant and irrelevant in many areas of healthcare. It’s a BIG contrast to how important men’s sexuality is prioritised! It’s great to see this area getting some attention now.

Anything that we assume "doesn't seem to do anything else" always actually does something else and messing with it comes back to bite us.

I got off HBC in my 20s and never looked back. I'm glad now, reading a few studies about how it may cause cancer.

I was surprised that there wasn’t more discussion regarding non hormonal options such as paraguard? This is a perfect platform to educate many women who struggled and were not offered other alternatives until later in life. Depo, gambit of pills and hormonal iud all led to depression

Women have known about cycle tracking and natural pregnancy prevention since the beginning of time. Post-industrial revolution we stopped paying attention to our bodies and stopped teaching our daughters how to manage their own fertility.

The one I’ve been waiting for!

I LOVE your podcast!!!!😊

nice Guest, ty Dr. Hill

It's fascinating hearing all of this after running the experiment on our population for the past 50 years. Unplanned childlessness and postmenopausal depression are at all time highs from it and things will be an order of magnitude worse when non-hormonal male birth control starts rolling out in the next 2 or 3 years. Birth control may have been empowering for women, but it came at a very high cost for society. Excellent podcast btw! I hope to see her on again soon. Her argument at 9:30 was pretty weak though. Men's hormones fluctuate throughout the day to respond to things in real time. This type of reactive system is exactly the type of hormonal system you'd want for most jobs. A cyclical system that occasionally introduces chaos into the mix isn't predictable. Not unless you're intentionally tracking every woman in the office.

I never…not once thought about birth control…4 kids later🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤣….I didn’t need to be on it to know instinctually that it’s not right for the body…so scary the mass problems women r having due partly to birth control prescriptions by professionals without taking responsibility for the repercussions or really emphasising the side effects. What a sinister world this is.

Love it. Sincerely valuable

My partner went on birth control 18 months ago... I found out this morning that she's has had feelings - sexual and emotional - for a work colleague for most of that time. He's objectively less masculine than I am and currently ticks way more practical boxes (I had major surgery 12 months ago, in the last leg of recovery). She stayed because she claims to still love me and hoped it would dissipate once I was fully recovered. She also says she's felt constantly tired/lathargic, like she's struggling with work and basic day to day tasks, etc. I've known some of this and done what I can to help, but she still feels that way. All things mentioned in this video. We never argue (though she's definitely been more passive aggressive since going on it), our sex life hasn't changed much (maybe a slight decline, but it's still good), and I was certain we were always honest with each other. Hell, she admitted to looking up engagement rings just 18 months ago, around the time she went on BC. So this was a complete shock to me. But communication issues aside (I now need to decide if I can even trust her again), I genuinely think the birth control is the culprit (added in top of medical stresses). It's all too conveniently timed. She had no idea BC can do all this, which is one reason I'm so furious she didn't talk to me! What do you guys think? Should we try and make it work (remove BC and give it a few months)? Or is this not something people can come back from, and I should let her figure her feelings out herself?

"Impregnable" is a word, but it means impassable, or fortified, impenetrable.

Narural methods of controlling conception (not really birth control - birthday control is basically abortion) have been known for decades among Catholics. There is quite a lot of literature on this, too. When I read about it 35 years ago it was considered backward catholic nonsense by a lot of people. If you don't take hormones you also get to know your body much earlier in your life. We also learnt about it in our biology classes. I went to a Catholic, girls only school.

Good interview! The fact that a book like the one written by Dr Hill could not be written by a man shows how the issue of birth control isn't just a biological or evolutionary issue, but a tool for control, which many women see as an opportunity to act upon the feminist ideology. This is the recognition that there's is an "undisclosed" war in which the intention is to defeat "man." I've never been so aware towards the end of this video that there's an outright hatred of men per se (not by you or Dr Hill, but floating in the "culture's air.") No mention of condoms or abstinence. I believe we should aim at the cultivation of wisdom individually and at a societal level, in such a way that men and women can fulfill their roles biologically, intellectually, productively, and spiritually towards the preservation of human life on earth. What I'm getting from this interview, and the one of Mary Harrington, with whom I agree entirely, is that we have to challenge the concept of "infinite freedom" because it's conducive to the atomization of society. That society is not a society but a ground for the "survival of the fittest." And I'm not a leftist or believe in any form of collectivism, but I believe in individual responsibility accompanying the freedoms (that we still have). The belief that everything can be traded or offered in a market is an infantile delusion of the (intelligent) fools. Wisdom and intelligence don't necessarily go on hand.

Scary as Hell!! Great explanation! Thanks.

I wonder if the rise in divorce rates is due to women choosing different men when on birth control compared to when they've stopped once they've had kids, there are many unforseen societal changes due to the rise of birth control use in modern times

My wife and i got married in 1975. Maybe The Pill was a bit different then, I don't know. But we both noticed a personality change when she started taking those pills every day. Her sex drive definitely dropped. So we agreed that she shouldn't take them anymore after a few months.

EXTREMELY INSIGHTFUL

Ok was enjoying all of the information given. It is very important that we understand all of the factors involved with anything used and the effects on ourselves and society. Now when we got to the reasons why when it comes to female vs. male birth control use, facts and data went out of the window for personal assertions and cultural considerations. There are so many studies and tests on Male birth control types leading to permanent infertility, I am not even sure I can allow for ignorance alone to be a consideration. Also the current "non-permanent" and non-damaging current male birth control method is called temporary vasectomy and that is when we get the vasectomy operation, but in a certain manner that allows for us to go back under the knife again later when we are prepared for starting a family. I am glad to see that something non-permanent and with less potential for bad effects exists, but it actually requires an operation. Also, as a guy who has had females lie about being on the pill (as have MANY others) some of these opinions are simply polarized in the favor of females instead of offering an obviously needed complete story . Nonetheless, this was still good. After all, no one can get everything right and people still have to push their personal considerations with such things. Sometimes to get to an audience that desperately needs to hear it. All together, well done.

I’m learning about Marquette Method right now, so I can track my hormones quantitatively and come off the pill. The depression and ABSENT libido aren’t worth it anymore. It’s a bit expensive but tracking hormones seems like a better alternative than absent minded pill taking that makes me feel ☠️.

What's interesting is that fertility awareness methods have now surpassed the efficacy of chemical birth control. I know more women who have gotten pregnant on the pill than those who use fertility awareness.

Very interesting!

My pullout game is out of this world!

I was on hormonal bc for the most part 17-25. I didn't notice any real side effects but I worry what kind of effects it could of had on me and wish I knew all this. I use a copper IUD now. It still has some side effects for some people but I like that its non-hormonal and does not stop me from having my normal cycle.

Not taking hormonal birth control doesn't mean there is no way to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Quality of condoms is better compared to 60's. It is possible to estimate when you're ovulating (it's not 100% accurate but you can estimate) and avoid having sex or be extra careful. There're also non hormonal birth controls. I finished university, got job and get married without taking hormonal birth control. I was sexually active (just at "average"level). It's possible

Brilliant!

Very interesting.

Wow! I was a complete CRAZY person on BC! After I had my babies and went back on my craziness was off the charts! And I “made” my husband have a vasectomy “HUGE” mistake ladies. Do not make this suggestion to your husband. Find better ways and/or embrace another baby. We are in a birth rate decline so embrace any new life!

The rhythm method is still a viable option for birth control. No pills needed. Only it takes more education, communication and responsibility.

Good podcast as always. There is one thing in this episode that stood out to me. The statement that men's under performance in modern-day society is women's cross to bear. Large groups of women have decided to completely alter there mating strategy, and change how the are read by men on a pheromone level. Women across the board have lowered the standard for sexual access. Standards that have been in place for millions of years, in one form or another. After all that, we get the statement where are all the good men, and men's performance is not women's cross to bear in almost the same sentence is strange to my ear. What men do affects women and what women do affects men. They idea that these decisions take place in a vacuum that has no affect on others, and then when an affect is beginning to show itself, you take the stance that is not only not your fault, but not even your responsibility is sad to say the least.

Thank god I had the wisdom and foresight to never take birth control (or any other prescription meds), and to never have slept around. I am thankful to have had good parents instill good wisdom in me, and thankful to be married to a wonderful husband for 20 years.

Why is no one talking about the fact that condoms are at least as effective as the pill and women's compulsion to not disappoint their partner by using a barrier method? We have to consider how we view and value ourselves by a.being willing to have multiple partners and outside of committed relationship and b. Are willing to destroy our bodies and suffer short and long term side effects because a condom doesn't feel as good to a guy. Also we have an obligation to inform men who think that unprotected sex is the norm and expected (this isnt their fault) how it is affecting our bodies and how it reduces desire for sex more dramatically and that will affect THEM too! In that discussion you may find out quickly the caliber of a man, whether they want to do you harm for a relatively small increase in pleasure. And so you would weed out partners pretty quickly. But this would require self control and the feminist movement has convinced our culture that you can do whatever u want whenever you want without consequences. We can see through this discussion that that is patently false.

Really recommend men to learn about the female cycle. You can now know how to predict the hormonal mood changes and also you know when you can get your partner pregnant or not. Add 2 days around the usual 5 day fertile period( use condoms during that 9-10 day period) and the rest you can raw dog it as much as you want. There are apps and you can keep a mental track as well.

this interview is quite good and shines a light on female psyche... there is a funny part around 05:30 where even Dr Sarah Hill had an epic fail moment. She meant to use the word fertile but instead used two words "pregnable/impregnable" which are used in the English language but come from Latin and have a very different meaning.

I love your content

1:01:32 This is not really the explanation for why there is no male birth control pill. The problem is that it's SIGNIFICANTLY harder to halt spermatogenisis completely. You basically have to completely chemically castrate a male in order to do that. Which also completely crushes a man's sex drive, by lowering testosterone levels to that of the average woman's, and raising estradiol to levels where things like developing breast tissue (Gynecomastia) are common. You could ameliorate this by giving the male exogenous testosterone, and estrogen blockers, but this can also come with a host of different problems. Pharmaceutical companies have been working on male birth control for decades. It's just a LOT more complicated to stop the testes from producing millions of sperm cells a day than it is to stop the ovaries from releasing 1 egg cell once a month, without giving men a whole cocktail of different drugs. Some progress has been made. There is a new class of drugs called SARMs. These drugs emulate the role of Testosterone, but do so selectively when it comes which types of tissue they affect. Some of these have been somewhat effective in significantly reducing sperm count, but to completely halt the production, the dosages would have to be so high that it can cause serious physical side effects. Like liver damage, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, serious mood disorders, etc.

I have a non hormonal copper iud, side effects were bucked for the first few months ( intense bleed 😞) but it works good for me now.

"There are no solutions - just trade offs. "

@Chris around 10:30 where she’s claiming “sexism” is “the idea that women are more hormonal than men, and is absolutely not true.” Unpacking the massive levels of neurobiological ignorance here would take a long time, so I’ll just leave a quick comment: the particular hormone being discussed, and its ratios with other sex hormones matters. Yes, hormones like testosterone fluctuate in the majority of young men, but do not cause immediately obvious and noticeable changes in mood, cognition, reaction time, and even memory processing - as is indisputably the case with estrogen/progesterone cycling in the majority of young women. The latter by contrast, *does correlate with larger and easily observable/measurable neuropsychiatric changes in eg emotional stability, frequency of crying or panic triggers, and other trait neuroticism behaviors (women are already more than 2 times as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than men, especially 20-30 year olds). Simplistically waving away this considerably sex differentiated reality and claiming a “behavioral instability equivalence” can easily be debunked by masses of psychometric/demographic literature - I didn’t expect Chris would allow this kind of lazy scientific illiteracy to slide on his otherwise fine channel

28:10 not suprising when you consider that 50% of marriages are ending in divroce AND women initiate 80% 9f all divorces.

Exactly my experience too. I felt robbed of part of my life in retrospect

I remember seeing birth control ads in my teens and listening to the loooooong list of risks. The fatal risks REALLY stuck in my mind and I refused birth control every time it was pushed on me. So glad my concern over warning labels protected me. Haha Birth control free forever. ✌️

Love the episodes from educated women in the space; how better to understand some of the fundamental biological underpinnings of humanity than by discussing it with women educated on the topic

How would a male pill even work? Without an answer to that, the real reason there is no male pill is we don’t know how to make one. It’s not for lack of demand if a good pill could be made.

It seems like a 'I want my cake and eat it too', sort of dilemma. If you want the outcome of casual sex, but also want the best mate you can attract. You will have to make some concessions.

Love how she expains something like this, that even our tiny men>:s brain may grasp it...just wow.