Contraceptive Voices at EMC: Wei Wei’s story
We have a wealth of young perspectives here among Every Mother Counts’ interns and staff members. When it comes to contraception, they’re articulate, well-educated, thoughtful and highly opinionated. We asked them to share their histories and insights to help keep the World Contraception conversation going.
Wei Wei Liu, 25 is Every Mother Count’s Business Development and Partnerships Manager. We asked Wei Wei about what it’s like for her generation to access contraception and how culture, education and affordability affect their choices.
What do you think are the key obstacles for young people accessing contraception?
Part of the problem is the social stigma. A lot of young people feel guilty or embarrassed asking about sex as a teen, so contraception isn’t something they feel comfortable reaching out to parents or adults about. There’s also a lack of knowledge about where to go. My college did a great job of providing us with information and subsidized contraception — there was a wellness center focused on health and sex that was staffed by peers. That made it easier because there was a non-judgmental place for students to get their questions answered and to get contraception.
Where did you learn about contraception?
We had a little bit of sex-ed in junior high and more in high school, but I don’t remember having any conversations in those classes about exactly where to go for contraception. The classes focused more on what contraception was, what STDs were, etc. but didn’t include very practical information about where to go. We had more peer-to-peer education on that. Planned Parenthood became a resource among my high school classmates because once one person went to a clinic and knew about it, word got around. I think a lot of us didn’t feel comfortable talking to our parents. There’s the generational gap, and for me there was also a cultural one — I’m Chinese American, and you just don’t really talk about that sort of thing with your parents. A lot of my education came from Internet resources and school.
What are some of the common myths you’ve heard about contraception?
A good friend of mine once tried to convince me that statistically, using condoms was as effective as pulling out and no more, which is just silly. More than myths, I think there’s a lot of concern among girls around what oral contraception will do to their bodies, like fear about gaining weight and breaking out. When I worked on an international effort to increase access to contraception for women, a lot of the interviews I did also showed that women had inaccurate information about certain methods. For example, some believed that IUDs were primarily an abortive agent.
Do you think young people have a right to contraceptive information and services?
Yes, I do think they have a right to this information and to being educated about their options and their bodies. For me, the most important way to make sure they can get that information is to make it an acceptable topic of conversation among the people you look up to growing up. Currently, a lot of young people learn about contraception through their friends. It’s just not going to be an accurate source of information, because they’re learning with you — it’s the blind leading the blind. Being able to talk to people who have been through it before, who have accurate information, and can connect you with the right resources is really important.
Check out our blog post about World Contraception Day — Blogging a Global Conversationand email your blog to info@everymothercounts.org and let’s keep the conversation going.
