Contraceptives do not kill sexual desire: Research

A new research by American scientists busts the myth that contraceptives curb desire, noting that it depends on other factors like age and length of a relationship.

According to a research, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, the authors from the University of Kentucky and Indiana University in the US, pointed out that scientific evidence regarding this notion has been mixed, with some studies supporting the claim and others suggesting the opposite.

Contraceptives are designed to prevent unwanted pregnancies and for some, to protect people from sexually transmitted infections.

"We wanted to understand the link between desire and contraceptive choice, especially in the context of longer-term relationships," said Dr. Kristen Mark, an author of the research.

"Most research does not focus on partners or people in long-term relationships but many contraceptive users are in long-term monogamous relationships, so this is an important group to study," she added.

The findings revealed that women on non-hormonal contraceptives reported higher desire on their own and women on oral contraceptives reported higher desire with their partner.

However, when the researchers adjusted the results to take into account relationship length and age, the differences were no longer significant, suggesting that it was the context rather than the contraceptive type that has the biggest impact on desire.

"Our findings are clear: the pill does not kill desire. This research helps to bust those myths and hopefully eventually get rid of this common cultural script in our society," Mark clarified.

--IANS

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