Birth control is a subject that every sexually active fertile woman is faced with regardless of her marital status. Christian women ideally should be married before it is necessitated; though birth-control options should be considered by both of the prospective partners at some point before the ceremony. They should look at and study each of the available methods and decide which are consistent with their particular belief system. Each partner should be comfortable with the method decided on, so that it will be consistently used. The partners should also agree on the probable number of offspring that they would like to have so that there will not be any great disparity later in the marriage. At the very least, it should be decided on whether to have a small family (3 children or less) or a large family (4 or more), though this may later change depending on the circumstances, if both parties are in agreement on the matter.
The word contraception means “before conception”, while birth control can mean anything from contraception to sterilization to abortion. There are some forms of birth control that are contraceptive in nature and there are others that are clearly not. There are others that are at best questionable. Some common forms of contraception are the barrier methods, which consist of condoms, spermicides, and diaphragms, while common forms of birth control are the various IUD's, the hormone based pills, and also the hormone based implants, shots, etc. The morning after pill and abortion are extreme birth control measures that some Christians have embraced at some time in their life, but the majority of Christians do not adhere to the habitual use of these methods. Most Christians agree that life begins at conception, which may rule out many of the modern forms of birth control.
What the majority of Christian women and their spouses do not understand, is that all of the hormone-based products are potentially abortifactant in nature. The progesterone that they each contain, changes the consistency of the uterine lining so that it will not retain a fertilized egg that would otherwise be implanted and form a healthy God-given new baby. Some forms of these methods also contain estrogen, which is believed to hamper ovulation, but most of the hormonal methods contain both of these ingredients. IUD's also change the uterine lining to make it uninhabitable to fertilized eggs. Since the hormonal methods and IUD's potentially destroy fertilized eggs on a monthly basis, these should be avoided by those couples who believe life begins at conception. Contraception options that are consistent with most Christian beliefs are those methods that do not interfere with a pregnancy after a conception has taken place. Some of these forms of contraception are the rhythm methods, which utilizes a period of abstinence during the most fertile part of the female monthly cycle; the barrier methods, which keep the sperm cell from reaching and fertilizing the egg cell; and also sterilization, which is usually a permanent option.
At some point in the marriage, Christians must decide when they will end the growth of their family. The popular belief that the world is overpopulated keeps many Christian couples from having as many children as they would otherwise like to have. But it is now common knowledge that many industrialized countries' birthrates, including the United State's, are below replenishing level and that these countries must immigrate foreigners in order to keep the population stable.
American Christians have consistently limited their own offspring with the abundance of easily accessible birth control and abortions, while other faiths, like the Hindus and Muslims continue to procreate without interference in many areas of the world. Other countries, like China, where the expression of faith is limited, force sterilization and abortion on women against their will. This is especially true for those women whose offspring are viewed by some as undesirable, whether the reason is for the child's sex, race, physical or mental impairment, or number of siblings. The Islamic world, in particular, plans to overwhelm Christianity simply by out-birthing us into a minority, which we certainly have helped them to do.
The Holy Word of God teaches us that children are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Christian families should prayerfully consider the limitations they place on the size of their families, while deciding whether limiting the number of children is due to selfish motives or godly purposes. Some Christian Missionary couples have limited the size of their families, because they felt they could better serve the Lord without the additional burden of their own children. When a woman's health is at risk, she may choose to discontinue the growth of her family so that she might be healthy enough to nurture those children she has already brought into the world. Sterilization is usually the preferred choice in this circumstance. Both of these situations would be considered godly purposes by most of the Christian Community.
