Birth control pills can cost more than $15,000 over a lifetime.
If the recession has prompted tighter spending habits among Chicago-area women, birth control is an area where the pocketbook can really be stretched.
Allowing for the bearing of two children and 23 other years of fertility from marriage to menopause, the cost of Yaz, the most popular form of birth control pill, will cost more than $15,000.
It’s enough to make you kick the habit. Compare that with a basal body temperature thermometer at $14.
“When you look at it from the economics view alone, it makes sense to look into Natural Family Planning (NFP),” said Monica Cassidy, of the Chicago Chapter of the Couple to Couple League.
“Of course there are many other good reasons to choose NFP,” she said. “Health, relationship, and moral reasons are ones we hear from our couples as well.”
Another birth control device, the Morena IUD, which lasts five years, is $270, not including the doctor’s fee for inserting it. A one-month supply of the Ortho Evra skin patch will set you back about $44, and Plan B, also called the morning-after pill, costs $37 for two tablets, taken after intercourse. These costs do not include medical help that may be needed following complications of pulmonary embolism, stroke, breast cancer or other problems related to hormone-based and other contraceptives.
The Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP, on the other hand, costs only $135 and can be learned in three classes. There is also the CCL Home Study Course, available from CCL Central, at http://ccli.org/
The Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP can be learned at 15 locations in the Chicagoland area. The next class will begin Sun., May 17 at Holy Family Church in Westmont. To sign up, go to http://www.nfpchicago.com.
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