A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PILL
The story of the female contraceptive pill starts in the 1950s, when US researcher Dr Gregory Pincus (above left) started searching for chemicals that interfere with fertility in animals. He figured out that giving female animals doses of sex hormone progesterone would shut down ovulation, preventing eggs from being released.
Pincus teamed up with gynaecologist Dr John Rock (above middle), who was already testing chemical contraception in women, and they secured funding from women’s rights activist, biologist and wealthy heiress Katherine McCormick. At the same time, Dr Carl Djerassi, a chemist working in Mexico, was working out how to create artificial Source: Harvard Business Review hormones from inedible yams. Eventually he managed to make norethindrone – a synthetic version of progesterone.
Enovid – a combination of artificial oestrogen and progesterone – first went into clinical trials in Massachusetts in 1954 (above right), with larger-scale studies taking place in Puerto Rico in 1956. Initially approved by the FDA for menstrual disorders, it was finally given the green light as a contraceptive in 1961.
Sales accelerated rapidly as women grabbed the chance to take control of their reproductive choices and health. Since then, millions of women all over the world have taken hormonal contraception, and there are many versions on sale. The pill is extremely effective at preventing pregnancy, with an almost 100 per cent success rate as long as it’s taken correctly, and it can also help with irregular or painful periods.
The success of the pill is tempered by growing concerns about possible side effects that may not have been flagged up by the early clinical trials. By 2010, there were more than a thousand pending lawsuits claiming that various pills could cause blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. Large studies have shown that it can increase the chance of breast and cervical cancers (although it reduces the likelihood of developing womb or ovarian tumours), and some studies have suggested that hormonal contraception can affect mental wellbeing and may even increase the risk of suicide.