Many of my patients have taken the birth control pill at some point in their lives. A common comment I hear is "geepers, I spent years on the birth control pill trying not to get pregnant and now I can't get pregnant when I want to!" It's frustrating for them and many of them worry that they permanently damaged their fertility by taking the pill.

Unequivocally, I can say that using the birth control pill does nothing bad to your fertility. It doesn't do anything good for it either (some people hope being on the pill means they are saving their eggs - not true). While it does nothing for fertility, the birth control pill does something very good for your health: it dramatically reduces the chance you will develop ovarian cancer.

• If you have ever used the birth control pill, your chance of developing ovarian cancer is 37% less.
• If you use the birth control pill for 10 years or more, your chance of developing ovarian cancer is 50% less!
• This benefit stops about 20 years after you stop the pill. This data comes from a meta-analysis (study of studies) published this month in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

If I was in the pharmaceutical industry and had designed a drug that reduced your chance of developing a certain cancer by 50%, I think the world would be very excited. However, because it's the birth control pill - with all its political, religious, feminist, and cultural baggage - people really don't take notice.

This is a positive message about the birth control pill and it should reassure women who fret that something negative came of their past pill use. In my opinion, if you did not have any problems while you took the pill and have now stopped it to get pregnant, the only side effects for having been on the pill will be positive ones.

Good news for a change!