To start off, I don’t know any guys that help their love interest pay for birth control. So, I wanted to get a good idea of what my guy friends thought about it.
I asked: Should guys help pay for birth control?
Here are some of the responses I heard:
“No.”
“Guys don’t give birth… so they don’t need to control it”
“No way because either way I’m going to somehow get her pregnant and have to pay for child support”
“I don’t think the guys should be expected to pay half. If they split the cost it should be after they have a conversation about it.”
“Yeah, you’re using this just as much as she is”
Since I didn’t know much myself, I decided to do my research. First off, it feels very weird to be the guy in the library with ten tabs of different birth control pills open. It also feels very weird when your computer starts reading the names aloud. That aside though, I went from hardly knowing anything, to probably knowing enough to give my grandparents a good scare.
I came to the conclusion that guys should not pay for the pill, and here’s why.
1.If you do it right, you can probably do it for free anyways.
Okay so this is where things get weird, because I feel like I know too much about birth control. If you still pay for the pill or other contraception, there is a good chance you can get it for free if you have insurance. First, check to see if there is a generic version (for example ethinyl estradiol & norethindrone instead of Lo Loestrin Fe). The affordable care act states “if, however, a generic version is not available, or would not be medically appropriate for the patient… then a plan or issuer must provide coverage for the brand name drug.” This means that your doctor just might be able to make your hanky panky free.
2. If I’m dropping all of my hard earned booze money on dinners and flowers for you, it is only fair that you spend some of your pumpkin spice mocha allowance on birth control.
If you want to make the argument that both people are using the birth control that is totally fair. However, then you might want to consider the other costs of your relationship. Who is paying for dinners or gas or everything else? If you really want to be fair about who pays for what, then you have to think about who spends the money in the relationship. Not only that but take into account who has the most means to pay. If he’s paying for condoms then maybe it is fair that you pay for the pill, or maybe it’s time to find a new boyfriend who knows that you can get condoms for free.
The bottomline line:
If you can’t get birth control within your budget, then it’s time to talk to your horizontal hula partner. In that case, start a conversation, and I’m sure he would be more than happy to help, most guys have hearts you know. In the meantime, hint toward birth control being the perfect gift, or if you really want, have him ask the Santa at the mall to give it to you for Christmas.