In an interview with Oprah for Oprah’s Next Chapter, Kim Kardashian has revealed she was “almost 15″ when she started taking birth control.
She said the decision came because she wanted to lose her virginity with her boyfriend of two years, and she said it was her mum, Kris Jenner, who agreed to put her on birth control.
“I was like, “I think I’m going to, or I want to,” and she was like, “OK, so this is what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna put you on birth control,” and she was like, really open and honest with me,” 31-year-old Kim told Oprah.
Here’s a teaser of that interview. We’ll bring you the full episode after it airs in the US on Sunday.
Are you on the pill? What age did you start?
Comments
30 Comments so far
Yes, it’s trivial and, quite frankly, blonde, but my first thought after reading this article was this:
Why did no-one point out to me before that Kim Kardashian married a man whose first name is exactly the same as her mother’s?
And no offence to blondes intended, it’s just an expression.
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It’s not that uncommon nor shocking for a 14 or 15 year old to be on birth control. I have been on it since I was 15, but for health reasons at the time, not sex.
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While I agree that its a great thing to be open and make contraception available to your daughter from a young age just in case (in order to be responsible and think of the consequences) I doubt if any physchological advice was given on sex and relationships, e.g. that not only would it be illegal for a girl that age to have sex in Aus, but also that a child that age isn’t mature enough to deal with such adult behaviour. I think its bizarre that kids and teenages are encouraged to have such ‘serious’ relationships from a young age and I think they are blown out of proportion and thus encouraged (I’m not saying that relationships between girls and guys that age aren’t important, but they should be put into perspective- kids should enjoy being young instead of trying to be adults etc).
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I went on the Pill at 16 to help my skin out and regulate my periods. It was my mum’s idea. I didn’t actually lose my virginity until I was 18 and I was super cautious about protection and always insisted my boyfriend use a condom even though I was on the Pill.
I think Kris made the right choice, everyone knows that if you tell a teenager ‘no’ then its exactly what they’re going to do. Its better to be open and honest with each other and have them informed and safe then have a teen pregnancy on your hands. My mum was always open and honest with me and always said when i decided I wanted to lose my virginity I could come and talk to her.
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When I was younger, I had the most regular cycle in the world (hoping that returns after 12 years on the pill!) Just after I lost my virginity at 17, my mum could tell something was up, and I just told her that I was two days late. She knew I had a boyfriend at the time (and how clockwork my cycle was), and insisted I made a doctors appointment for the next day (as it turned out, period came that day, but she made sure I went to the doc and got a prescription).
Around this time, I had been experiencing increasingly worse period pain and heavier periods, and not long after this, I was told I had endometriosis. So I would have gone on the pill then anyway. With me already being on it, all they did was increase the dose and I went continuous for 2 years, after which time I went to a three-month cycle (which, luckily, has all but eliminated the pain). My nanna had endo as well, so my mum has been pretty understanding about it.
My mum was always pretty upfront about that stuff…Nanna was very Victorian and Mum had a pretty stiff-upper-lip upbringing. She was determined that we wouldn’t suffer the same fate. I hope when I have children that they will be comfortable enough to come to me.
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I believe keeping teenagers safe by providing education about safe sex by using the pill and condoms is the best way to deal with this issue. Just like alcohol if you say no way are you going on the pill and don’t even think about having sex, kids are going to do it!! If you create a relationship with your kids where they feel comfortable confiding in you and talking with you about sex then it’s more likely they will make better decisions instead of sneaking around or in a dark room at a party!
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I put myself on the pill at 16. My parents were never involved
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I wasn’t on the pill until until about 24 and in a long term relationship! Condoms all the way for me!
As a side note, when I was about 12 or 13, I was angling for my mum to get me tampons instead of those giant pads she always bought – she didn’t trust the slim-pads and these ones were like 1.5cm thick
Swimming carnivals and swimming sport days were coming up at school so she said to me one day “just let me know if you need a note to get out of swimming if you have ur period” and I said “isn’t there something you can use instead of pads so you can go swimming?” and she said “no!” and I said “surely there must be something, I don’t think professional swimmers just take a week off every month!” and she basically said “no! End of discussion!”
So I ended up buying tampons with my pocket money which was a princely sum of $2 a week back then!
Then a few months later, I was in my room and overheard her talking to my dad in a really upset voice “I don’t know where she got them, she must have bought them herself!” and the only thing I’d been hiding in my room were the tampons so I knew she’d been snooping around! (I suppose we had a lot of issues when I was a kid but I still think she’s a great mum now.)
This stort is just a roundabout way of wondering what in the world she would have said if I’d asked her about sex and contraception at 15!
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Am I the only one who doesn’t think this is great parenting? When we enable our children, we condone the behaviour. It is neither physically nor psychologically ok or beneficial for underage children to be engaging in adult behaviours with adult consequences. If my daughters want to go on birth control they can go and get it themselves. Will I educate them on sex, relationship and birth control? Of course. But at no point will I make having sex easier or more accessible to them because then I am saying the consequences are ok, and thus I bear significant responsibility for those consequences.
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I agree that it’s enabling or even encouraging her daughter, but not that she’s o.k. with the consequences. She’s obviously not o.k. with the consequences of sex if she’s giving her daughter contraception. I wonder why she was not also given condoms as well though… The Pill is not going to stop STI’s.
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When I was about 12, my mother drove me past the family planning clinic in my town and told me that if I ever needed contraception, or if I ever had any questions about sex and didn’t want to go to her, I could go to the clinic. She was very clear that it would be free and that they wouldn’t call her etc etc. I was embarrassed at the time, but in retrospect it was such a valuable thing for her to do.
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I started at 19 when I became sexually active. I was on it for about 8 years, and then had an abnormal pap smear. I know there is no clear evidence about this, but I do wonder about possible links between long term hormonal contraceptive use and possible consequences such as cancer. Fortunately my issue was successfully treated. I ceased contraception at 29 and have gone on to have 3 kids. i can’t bring myself to go back on it again. I hope to be open with my daughters about contraception when the time comes.
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So do you use condoms then?
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hi there, i cant go on the pill for medical reasons and have been using condoms for 17 years! happily with husband for 14 of them (34 y.o. now). Never had a mishap, very clean and husband way too quick without them (when pregnant etc). Have 7 year old daughter and have thought just recently about how to deal with the sex talk in a few years… i think i will be open about her options and emphasise that it is important to only share her precious body with someone who aprreciates it.
ps love mamamia and have been dissapointed by the haters!
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I have been on the pill for around six years now (I went off it for a few months at one point). I started taking it just before i turned 15, the same as Kim. Better to be on the pill than pregnant I’ve always thought.
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My mum always said “don’t have sex til your 18- but if you do, make sure you are on the pill!”. I went on the pill at 15 but didn’t tell my mum. I didn’t have sex til I was on the pill. Biggest fear was always falling pregnant as a teen. Fast forward 20 years and I’m doing Ivf!
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Funny how we spend so much time and energy in our teens and twenties trying not to and stressing about falling pregnant and then struggle in out thirties. I had trouble too, good luck.
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does anyone wonder if this could be a side affect of the pill? so many of my friends who have been on the pill since their teens cannot fall pregnant and I only took it for about 6 months because it made me an emotional mess. I fell pregnant straight away with my children and sometimes wonder if this is the reason why….
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Most research seems to indicate that there is no long-term infertility with pill usage, although it can take 6 – 9 months after you stop using it for your ovulation to regulate itself again. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-75265/Can-taking-Pill-long-affect-fertility.html
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Some research has indicated that the pill can actually protect your fertility.
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I believe that Kris Jenner is an exceptional mother, despite what the tabloids say. She dealt with this situation extremely well. She was supportive as well as protective of her daughters welfare. Also, at my secondary (catholic) school I was taught from 14 years about being sexually active and measures to avoid falling pregnant.
I am not surprised by this interview in the slightest find it completely normal and healthy.
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Better that than being a mum at 14. Good on KK’s mum doing the right thing by her daughter.
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I went on the pill for the first time five months ago – I’m 28. It’s not for birth control in my case, as I’m not sexually active, but more to regulate my periods so that I know when it’s coming up each month. I basically got fed up with being surprised by it, especially because if I missed one month it threw my cycle completely off kilter. I couldn’t imagine telling my mother I wanted to go on it when I was younger – I had a hard enough time convincing her I needed to go on antidepressants to treat my depression, so telling her I wanted to go on birth control would have been completely out of the question. :/
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I would much rather have my daughter tell me she wants to have sex and be protected than be a grandmother at 40. It’s responsible behaviour.
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I applaud Kris. Seriously, what a champion mother not to freak out and to suggest birth control. A bit young, but what would have been the alternative? Kim becoming a teen mum?
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I’m not a fan of Kim or Kris, but massive hats off to Kris for the way she handled the situation.
I was raised in a strict Christian household, and if I’d gone to my mother with this situation I would’ve been grounded, and forced to break up with my boyfriend. Pastoral appointments would’ve been booked. Prayer meetings would’ve been held. She found condoms in my room when I was 18 and shit hit the fan, to say the least.
And I’m also impressed that Kim felt that she COULD go to Kris and talk about.
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I started a 16 but had friends who started earlier. Some for skin or PMS problems but other’s for contraception. When I asked my Mum if i could go on it she said she expected me to ask earlier. I think, like Kim Kardashian’s mother, she prefered to know I was on something rather than worrying if I was having unprotected sex.
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I went to the Dr myself when I was 15 and asked for them because I wanted to prevent pregnancy and regulate my periods. I’d recently lost my virginity drunk at a party and had needed to get the Morning After Pill. It seemed like the practical thing to do. Drunk teenagers don’t always remember condoms…. and yes looking back now from the age of (almost) 30 it seems reckless and irresponsible to be getting that drunk in the first place. But it is what it is… teenagers do stupid things without thinking them through.
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So Kim was obviously quite young, but in my opinion what we have here is a mother who is able to acknowledge her daughter’s choices and to communicate with her openly.
Teenage girls mature and ‘feel ready’ at very different rates.
My conservative Catholic mother put me on the pill when I was 16 because I was in a serious relationship with a nice boy and I was completely ready. She was so brave to talk with me openly about it and not make me feel ashamed or like I had to sneak around. She helped me make the decision and we had a lot of discussions about sexuality and the implications of sex, the good as well as the bad. I am so proud of the way she handled it, and even though the relationship ended a year or so later I never regretted my decision.
So I don’t find Kim’s story particularly unique.
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My mum did the same when I crossed into 16! I brought up the topic and she was very good about it and said it would be a good idea since I was in a relationship. I agree 100% with everything you said. If her mum had said “Don’t you dare, don’t even think about it” etc. it wouldn’t have led to much openness or protection for Kim. Sounds like a smart move to me.
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