Each year, half of American women who would rather not get pregnant will have an unplanned pregnancy, often because they failed to use their contraceptive properly or forgot to use it at all, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

As a result, 28 million women in the United States are at risk for an unintended pregnancy, according to the study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute in New York.

And how is it that birth control–supposing women are fortunate enough to have access–winds up failing?

Among the results, they found that more than half of women who have a gap in contraceptive use of at least one month have experienced some type of major life event — such as the end of a relationship, a move, job change or personal crisis.

Yup. Sounds true to me. Wouldn’t it just be great to have a birth control method that was cheap, easily reversible, hard to forget, didn’t make you gain 40 pounds on average, and was available in enough dosage levels that it could work for most if not all women? I’m dreamin’ again.

Read more at the Guttmacher page devoted to the research findings.

My supervisor just checked in, and we chatted about food, the Pill, menstruation…the good stuff. I think she’s just great. Talking about BCPs, I again confirmed to myself that I really like Microgestin.  The one annoying thing is that I am having bleeding on week two of the cycle of pills pretty consistently, and none in the week off. Strange. But whatever. It is not making me gain weight, I notice no negative side effects, and the cycle appears to be regulated.

The cost of being “Pringle thin” is apparently limited to nutritional impact, and–horrors–the fact that “trailer” food may contain hidden calories that make people fatter! Jesus, what about the cost of a culture that makes everything fake? Food? Bodies? Who cares, as long as you are meeting your weight goals!