Reproductive coercion is behavior that interferes with someone’s ability to make their own decisions about pregnancy and contraception. An estimated 8.4% of women in the United States, roughly 10.1 million people, have experienced it at some point in their lives. It can happen in any intimate relationship and takes several distinct forms, from tampering with birth control to pressuring someone to become pregnant or to end a pregnancy against their will.
The Three Main Forms
Reproductive coercion generally falls into three categories: birth control sabotage, pregnancy pressure, and pregnancy coercion. These categories overlap in practice, and someone may experience more than one at the same time.
Birth control sabotage is active interference with contraception. This includes hiding or destroying oral contraceptives, poking holes in condoms, removing a condom during sex, pulling out a vaginal ring or contraceptive patch, removing an IUD, or refusing to withdraw when that was the agreed-upon method. The goal is to cause a pregnancy the other person does not want.
Pregnancy pressure involves persistent behavior intended to push a partner into becoming pregnant when they don’t want to. This can range from ongoing verbal demands to threats of violence for not agreeing to get pregnant.
Pregnancy coercion targets the outcome of an existing pregnancy. It includes forcing someone to continue a pregnancy against their will, forcing someone to terminate a pregnancy they want to keep, or physically injuring a partner in a way that could cause a miscarriage. Threats of violence are central to this form.
How It Differs From Other Abuse
Reproductive coercion is closely linked to intimate partner violence, but it is not the same thing. Research on women using family planning clinics found that reproductive coercion increased the risk of unintended pregnancy on its own, even when no other form of physical or sexual violence was present. Women experiencing reproductive coercion alone were about 79% more likely to have had an unintended pregnancy in the past year compared to those with no exposure to violence or coercion. When both intimate partner violence and reproductive coercion were present together, the risk roughly doubled.
This distinction matters because someone can experience reproductive coercion without being hit, threatened in other ways, or fitting the profile they might associate with an “abusive relationship.” A partner who is otherwise kind but secretly throws away birth control pills or removes a condom during sex is committing reproductive coercion.
Who Is Affected
While reproductive coercion disproportionately affects women and girls of reproductive age, it can happen to anyone regardless of gender, age, or sexual orientation. Among women who have experienced intimate partner violence, the lifetime rate is significantly higher: about 15.3% report some form of reproductive coercion. The most commonly reported behavior is a partner refusing to use a condom, affecting an estimated 7.2 million women over their lifetimes. About 5.3 million women report that a partner tried to get them pregnant against their will.
Young adults and adolescents appear to be particularly vulnerable. In one study of college women in abusive relationships, nearly 25% had experienced reproductive coercion.
The Mental Health Toll
The psychological effects go well beyond the stress of an unwanted pregnancy. Reproductive coercion independently predicts depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms, even after accounting for other factors like age, race, and sexual orientation.
Among Black women ages 18 to 25 who experienced reproductive coercion, 69% reported symptoms of depression and 45% met the diagnostic threshold for PTSD. These are not small numbers, and they reflect the particular damage of having a deeply personal decision stripped away. The loss of control over your own body and reproductive future creates a psychological wound that persists whether or not a pregnancy results.
Research in non-clinical, non-college populations confirms that these effects are not limited to any one group. Across diverse samples of young adults, experiencing reproductive coercion consistently predicted higher levels of all three conditions: depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Recognizing It in Your Own Life
Reproductive coercion can be difficult to identify when you’re inside it. Some signs are obvious, like a partner who becomes angry or threatening when you bring up birth control. Others are subtle. You might notice your pills are missing from where you left them, or that a condom broke in a way that didn’t seem accidental. A partner who repeatedly pressures you to have a baby despite your clear refusal, or who guilts you about using contraception, is engaging in reproductive coercion even if they never raise a hand.
Some specific behaviors to be aware of:
- A partner removing a condom during sex without your consent
- Finding that your birth control pills, patches, or rings have gone missing or been damaged
- A partner preventing you from going to a clinic or pharmacy for contraception
- Threats or emotional manipulation tied to getting pregnant or ending a pregnancy
- A partner insisting on unprotected sex specifically to cause pregnancy
Contraception Options That Are Harder to Interfere With
For someone in a situation where a partner is sabotaging birth control, certain contraceptive methods are more difficult to detect or tamper with. An IUD, for example, can have its strings trimmed short enough that a partner cannot feel or pull them. A copper IUD preserves normal menstrual bleeding, which can help avoid suspicion if a partner monitors your cycle. Injectable contraception requires no daily routine and leaves nothing at home to find or destroy. Subcutaneous injections can even be administered at home, reducing the need for clinic visits a partner might try to block.
Some people transfer pills out of their pharmacy packaging into less recognizable containers, or arrange for extended use of an IUD beyond the typical replacement schedule to limit clinic visits. These are not ideal workarounds, but they represent practical strategies for maintaining some control over your own fertility in a dangerous situation.