Adolescents and the pill.

Abstract

For the sexually active adolescent girl without medical contraindications who is sufficiently motivated to adapt to daily pill-taking, orals are the most effective contraceptive method. Some medical specialists have advised that oral contraceptives should not be a routine method of contraception for young girls who have not established a regular menstrual pattern for 1 or 2 years, due to the risk of amenorrhea after discontinuing the pill. The legal position must also be considered; for instance, the age of consent in Australia varies between 13-17 years. The Family Planning and the Law Symposium held in Melbourne in 1976 confirmed the ambiguity of the law on fertility control and minors. The current advice to family planning doctors is: 1) No doctor in Australia has yet been prosecuted for prescribing the pill to a minor. 2) It is preferable to prescribe to girls over 16 years but doctors have no confirmation of client's ages. 3) Parents ringing up about their child's attendance at Family Planning Association Centres are not entitled to information. Doctors observe normal discretion about their clients. 4) Girls who come to ask for the pill are usually already involved in a sexual relationship. "Studies of cervical cancer and its precursors in users of oral contraceptives have produced varied results. Most found no links between the use of orals and the risk of developing malignant or premalignant neoplasms, but several have reported a positive relationship and several a negative relationship." There may not be any link between the early use of oral contraceptives and subsequent neoplasia, however, there may be an association between early coitus and subsequent cervical neoplasia. In individual cases, the known risks of unwanted pregnancy must be weighed against the potential risks of taking the pill.