PEDIATRICS Vol. 62 No. 6 December 1978, pp. 1211-1215
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Contraceptives and the Young: Present Status and Future Prospects

Sheldon J. Segal Ph.D.1

1 The Rockefeller Foundation Population Division, New York

Although today's couples have access to a greater array of relatively safe and effective methods of fertility regulation than ever before, these methods are neither safe enough nor effective enough. The need for improvement in contraception is clear from the frequent resort to termination of unwanted pregnancies through induced abortion and from the rise in the incidence of sterilization, a surgical and generally irreversible method often chosen simply because of the unavailability of a suitable nonsurgical and reversible method.

Reproductive behavior is shaped by many dimensions of human experience, including sexuality and the social and economic roles of women and men. It is important that fertility regulation technology take these other dimensions into account for different cultures and for different age groups. It is important also, in different circumstances, that the risks of fertility regulation methods be balanced against the risks of pregnancy.