These Celebrities Quit Birth Control. Here's Why They're Not Looking Back

Hormonal birth control has become one of the most culturally divisive topics in women's health. In the past decade, women have been asking questions about a one-size-fits-all "fix" that made a lot of them feel worse. What was once handed out like candy is now under heavy scrutiny, and no, not out of political hysteria, but personal experience. It's unfortunate that the moment someone even hints at ditching it, the political implications seem to materialize out of thin air. The speculations arise: Is she being brainwashed by tradwives? Falling into conservative "anti-woman" rhetoric? Maybe it's because her body was telling her something the pharmaceutical industry doesn't want to admit. Women all over the world are stepping away from hormonal contraception, and they’re tired of being ignored. Science shows that nearly one-third of women stop using hormonal birth control within the first year due to side effects. That’s not normal, and we're done pretending it is. The fact that we’ve politicized this very basic reality says more about our culture than it does about women’s health decisions. That’s why it’s so important to listen to women and to talk about the ones using their platforms to raise awareness on this issue. The following celebrities have spoken out about why they quit hormonal birth control and what happened when they did. 1. Lorde “I’ve now come to see my decision was maybe some quasi right-wing programming," explained Lorde. "But I hadn’t ovulated in 10 years. And when I ovulated for the first time, I cannot describe to you how crazy it was. One of the best drugs I’ve ever done.” Lorde said this in an interview with Rolling Stone , describing what it felt like to finally experience a natural cycle after a decade of synthetic suppression. The fact that she had to preface it with a political disclaimer speaks volumes. Why should a woman needing to reconnect with her own biology sound like she’s delivering a controversial hot take? 2. Ashley Greene "I was not concerned about my period or menstrual health in the slightest until I was in my 30s and got off hormonal birth control," the Twilight star said . "And it was incredibly difficult because I then realized that, 'Oh, I have all of these symptoms that are being masked by birth control and now I have to figure out a way to fix them.'" Like so many women, Greene says she wasn't given real solutions , just pills. She eventually co-founded Hummingway to help other women find natural ways to address their hormonal symptoms. 3. Aubrey Plaza “It was really a freak thing, honestly. I think they blame, you know, my doctors blamed it on the birth control pill at the time because I had kind of been on like a new one or something for a couple of months," the actress told Howard Stern in an interview. "It was really the only thing I was putting into my body. And so I never took that again, ever.” Aubrey Plaza suffered a mini-stroke at age 20 while attending NYU. Her doctors believed the likely trigger was birth control. She hasn’t touched it since. 4. Madeline Argy "I think this is probably not the best time to go cold turkey on my birth control, but I have in fact not taken it since last week," the influencer revealed on TikTok. "So if you guys see me emerging with a whole new personality next week, don't worry, I'm just ovulating for the first time in 8 years." Argy’s video on quitting the pill quickly became viral. Comments flooded in from women celebrating her decision and sharing their own stories of mental clarity, better sex, and improved health after ditching hormonal contraceptives. 5. Emily Ratajkowski "Doctors are so quick to prescribe the pill. What if it's rewiring the chemistry of our brains?" asked the model. It's not clear if she's off completely , but Ratajkowski has been on and off the pill since she was 17, and she’s been vocal about how hormonal birth control can alter women’s relationships, sex lives, and even the kinds of men they’re attracted to. On her podcast High Low , she cited research suggesting that hormonal suppression can change everything from libido to long-term compatibility. 6. Hailey Bieber "I had just recently started birth control pills, which I should've never been on because I'm somebody who suffered from migraines anyway, and I just did not talk to my doctor about this," Bieber said in 2022. While she didn't explicitly state that she's 100% done with birth control, we can only assume she ditched the pills after what she went through. After experiencing a terrifying mini-stroke, Hailey revealed that birth control was one of three likely contributing factors. Her story is a cautionary tale about what happens when doctors don’t screen women properly before putting them on synthetic hormones. 7. Alex Cooper Cooper said in a recent podcast episode, "I like physically, I could feel my body trying to re-regulate and find its new normal. And it was struggling. I started breaking out like crazy. I felt awful 24 seven. And I just felt so out of control with what was happening to my body." The Call Her Daddy host said quitting the pill wasn’t the smooth transition she expected. She dealt with vertigo, mood swings, and anxiety as her body tried to find its natural rhythm again. Still, she stuck with it because the alternative wasn’t working either. 8. Reneé Rapp In an interview with Cosmo , Rapp revealed, "Last year at Coachella, I also got off birth control after eight years. As a person who does not actively need to be on birth control [to prevent pregnancy or for health reasons], I can’t believe that I was ever on it! The second my body started to work itself out, I was like, ‘Hang on, am I experiencing joy?’" Rapp says getting off the pill improved her sex life and her overall sense of vitality, and it's possible many women would feel that way if they did the same.