At 26, Janette* was finally enjoying a real relationship –one that was committed, loving and full of hot steamy sex.
“It was my first serious relationship and the sex was great, but I was always careful and used a condom.”, says Janette.
“I get so frustrated when I hear my other girlfriends tell me that they don’t use condoms because their boyfriends don’t like it. When I ask them what’ll happen if they get pregnant, they’ll just shrug their shoulders and say ‘Bahala na’. They don’t want to use the pill because they’re afraid of its side effects and are wary about consulting a OB-GYN about it.”
One of the advantages of having a serious relationship at a later age was that Janette learned from the experience of her friends. She had seen too many friends who had pregnancy scares or worse, got pregnant suddenly all because she couldn’t convince her boyfriend to use condoms.
Janette swore to herself that she would be different. She actually thought she was being smart about her sexual health having the condom talk with her boyfriend before they started having sex. She even had condoms in her “kikay kit” just in case she and her boyfriend needed a spare.
And then one day, their condom broke. “I actually didn’t notice. It was my boyfriend who thought he saw a hole and leak at the side of the condom after we had sex.”
Though they weren’t exactly sure that their condom broke, Janette wasn’t going to take any chances. “We had only been going out for a few months, I wasn’t going to ruin everything by getting knocked up.”
For all her sexual health savvy, Janette found herself at a loss. “I knew about the morning after pill because I had read about it in a foreign magazine, but I also knew it was not available here.”
Janette’s friend referred her to Likhaan, a women’s health clinic which specializes in providing reproductive health care services and counsel to women.
“Honestly, I didn’t know if they [Likhaan] could help me with my problem. My friend wasn’t sure either, but I thought I should give a try — by then, I was desperate.”
“Of course I was nervous.”, confesses Janette. “Asking for help would be equal to admitting that I was sexually active. I was a bit uncomfortable with that because I was afraid that I was going to be reprimanded for having sex without being married.”
She called Likhaan and over the phone was given private counsel on emergency contraception.
“They asked me for my name, but also told me I had the prerogative not to give it. I told them that our condom broke and all they asked was when it happened. “ says Janette, recalling the experience.
“They proceeded to explain emergency contraception to me. I was so surprised at how easy and simple the whole procedure was.”
Dr.Junice Melgar, Executive Director of Likhaan tells SAS that emergency contraception, which essentially involves taking regular over-the-counter birth control pills in higher dosages 12 hours apart immediately after unprotected sex acts to prevent a pregnancy and is perfectly safe and legal.
“Like regular contraceptives, emergency contraceptives prevent fertilization and cannot end a pregnancy when the pregnancy has begun. It is information that everyone should have access to.”, says Melgar.
Emergency contraceptives may be taken five days after unprotected sex, but work best when taken immediately after.
As for their policy on client anonymity and privacy, Dr. Melgar says, “ It is not our [Likhaan’s] place to reprimand the women who come to us. Nor is it our right to punish or judge them for choices that they’ve made. It is our simply our duty to help them.”
After calling Likhaan, Janette and her boyfriend bought the pills.
Janette had never been so happy or so relieved to get her period almost a week later.