Hesperian Health Guides

Choosing to use family planning

In this chapter:

a woman thinking while both a priest and a health worker talk to her from opposite sides You have a right to make your own decisions about family planning.

Some people want a lot of children—especially in communities where poor people are denied a fair share of land, resources, and social benefits. This is because children help with work and provide care for their parents in old age. In these places, having just a few children may be a privilege only wealthier people can afford.

Others want to limit the number of children they have. This often happens where women have opportunities to study and earn income, and where they can negotiate with men in a more equal way.

No matter where you live, you will be healthier if you have control over how many children you have and when you have them. Deciding to use—or not to use—family planning should always be the choice of the person who can become pregnant.

Talking with your partners about family planning

It is best if you can talk with your sexual partners about family planning.

Some men do not want their partners to use family planning, often because they do not know very much about how different methods work. They may worry because they have heard untrue stories about the dangers of family planning. They may fear that women who use family planning will have sex with other men. Or they may think it is “manly” to have lots of children.

Try sharing the information in this chapter with your partner or partners to help them understand that family planning:

  • will allow you to choose if and when you have children together.
  • will allow you to take better care of any children you have together.
  • will allow you to space any children you have at least 2 years apart, which is safer for your health and theirs.
  • can make sex more enjoyable, because neither of you will have to worry about an unplanned pregnancy.


If you have a partner who still does not want you to use family planning after learning more, you must decide whether to use it anyway. If you do, you may have to choose a method that you can use without your partner knowing about it.

This page was updated:13 Nov 2023
Retrieved from "http://en.hesperian.org/w/index.php?title=Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:Choosing_to_Use_Family_Planning&oldid=98490"

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