Birth control methods in the United States

U.S. women have fewer birth control options than do women in other developed countries. Reliance on sterilization helps many couples make up for their lack of choices, but high rates of sterilization among relatively young women are a cause for concern, given the chance of later regret. Although pill use is very high among young women, it falls dramatically among those in their 30s and, often unnecessarily, is minimal among those over 35. The IUD is most appropriate for older women in mutually monogamous relationships who have completed their families, and its availability has been limited in recent years because of liability problems. Although barrier methods are widely used by women of all ages, they are less effective than the pill or IUD. It is fair to conclude that given U.S. women's sometimes long intervals of exposure to the risk of unintended pregnancy, too few safe and effective reversible contraceptives are available in the United States. The addition of an acceptable new method would certainly lead to a reduction in unintended pregnancies, but many potentially useful new methods will not be developed in this century unless the amount of money invested in contraceptive research and development is substantially increased.