Elle UK - 04.2020

‘Doesn’t it kill the vibe a

bit?’ ‘But where does it, you

know, allgo?’‘Do you think

that, maybe, you’re infertile?’

All common reactions from

my friends when I admit that,

for the past 1O years, my

husband and I have been

having sex using the old-fashioned pull-out

method instead of any actual contraception.

It’s not that we’re trying to have a baby, it’s just

that we don’t like any of the other options that

prevent the arrival of one. As for my friends’

reactions, the most common one is the rhetorical

question: ‘Are you CRAZY?’

Maybe we are. Pulling out (known as the

withdrawal method or, more colloquially – brace

yourself – ‘spray and pray’) means around 4% of

women are likely to fall pregnant. And that’s if

IT REQUIRES IRON WILLPOWER , A DEX TEROUS PARTNER

AND A VERY RISK -AV ERSE MINDSE T. JENNIFER GEORGE

EXPL AINS WHY SHE, AND EVERY WOMAN SHE

KNOWS, IS TURNING TO THE WITHDRAWAL METHOD

PHOTOGRAPH by PAUL ZAK

ELLE.COM/UK April 2020 183

HOW

OUT

NE W PIL L

BE C A ME

the

pulling