BIRTH CONTROL IN CHINA : CHOICES AVAILABLE AND CHOICES MADE

Abstract: Chinese women have, by international standards, a comparatively low rate of birth control pill use. This study attempts, through interviews with social scientists and pharmacy surveys, to determine why women do not choose contraceptive pills more often. Interviews with patients and doctors reveal that there are several factors which combine to strongly dissuade women from using birth control pills. Policy makers in the past preferred methods not prone to patient tampering, doctors tend to rate side effects as high, and effectiveness as relatively low, and women have internalized both of these attitudes. Women themselves trust IUDs because of the perceived risks of hormonal methods, but these attitudes are shifting with time. In addition, Chinese women are often not given a choice in the birth control method they choose, although this too is changing.