My name is Charlsley Carey and I am a user of birth control.

Immediately, some of you have an opinion of me. You now think you know who I am as a girlfriend, a person, and about my character. But, let me explain myself. I do not take birth control because I am trying to prevent myself from having children (though, if I was, that would be absolutely none of your business).

Currently, politicians are trying to make it okay for healthcare providers (such as people's workplace) to no longer be required to cover any type of birth control. The ultimate argument? That providers do not have to pay for condoms, so why do they have to pay for birth control? But ladies and gentleman, let me tell you something... birth control is so much bigger than that. And before you say it, I get it "well, if you have take birth control that's your problem! Just pay for it out of pocket!" But, would you say that to someone with a disease who has to take medicine for it?

I suffer from something known as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). While this isn't completely dangerous to my body right now, it could be over time. That is... unless I treat it. Now, things are going to get a bit TMI, if you're grossed out about how a woman's body works, skip to the next paragraph. PCOS can cause a lot of things to happen to me. For me, it means I don't have a regular period (I do not get my periods every month, I could go 6+ months without having a period). I know, this sounds like a dream to some women - but trust me, it's not. Not having a regular period means something is wrong with you, you do not want that. PCOS also causes me to have a hormonal imbalance which results in facial hair and acne. The fun doesn't stop there, PCOS also effects the way your body reacts to sugars in food, making you gain weight faster. Then, PCOS has more severe side effects such as infertility and diabetes.

PCOS does not just effect me; it effects millions of people worldwide. In fact, PCOS affects 1 in 10 women. And it isn't just a certain type of woman, even celebrities have opened up about their experiences and struggles dealing with it; celebrities such as Jillian Michaels and Victoria Beckham, as well as many others. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome right now has no cure. But, there are ways to manage and treat it. There are a few medicines out there that help prevent you from developing diabetes and there are treatments to help with fertility. Though, there is also one other medicine that helps your body. And you do know what that is? Birth control.

Birth control serves more purposes than just preventing an unwanted pregnancy. Birth control helps people, like myself, with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome have a regular period. Birth control helps even out the hormone imbalance that PCOS leaves its victims with and thus helps get rid of the unwanted facial hair and acne on top of making sure you have a normal period again.

Without birth control, my periods would continue to go irregular and I could be in real danger of later in my life becoming obese, developing diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure or completely being infertile. I do not want that for myself and as a human being who should be able to emphasize and understand the feelings of others, I hope you would not want that kind of future for me either. So please, do not take away my birth control: I need it to live a regular lifestyle and one day be able to have children of my own. Should I say that again? I NEED BIRTH CONTROL TO ONE DAY HAVE CHILDREN OF MY OWN. Please... don't throw me to the pack of wolves that is PCOS without a medicine that I truly need; you could dangerously shape my future.

**you can follow my journey with PCOS here**