After much deliberation, I recently decided to switch birth control methods.

After talking over some options with my gynecologist, I decided that maybe I wanted to give Mirena a try.

I knew that there were risks. For instance, it's implanted in your uterus and is often harder to insert in women who haven't had children. Also, there is a higher risk of the device being expelled from an "unused" uterus. My doctor advised me that since a woman's uterus is ALWAYS enlarged by pregnancy, women who have not been pregnant are more susceptible to problems.

Sure this, along with the possibility of pain alarmed me, but I weighed the pros and cons and decided that the risks were worth the reward. It's effective for five years of continuous use!

Whooo hooo!

I scheduled the implantation and looked forward to my new, easier birth control method.

Ugh, well, a week before my appointment I got a call from my doctors office informing me that my insurance would NOT be covering the full cost of the procedure and I would have to pay several hundred dollars in out of pocket costs in order to use this form of birth control.

Of course, I was incensed. Money wasn't necessarily the biggest object either. Sure I could afford to shell out the cash, but as someone planning to hit the Caribbean in a few short months, I didn't want to! PLUS- birth control is something I passionately believe health insurance should cover! With NO QUESTIONS ASKED DAMMIT!

This totally pissed me off so I canceled the procedure and went with another method.

But, in the time since this claim was rejected, I've done some legwork with regard to investigating the policies of my insurance company.

I cannot even express to you how INCENSED I was when I discovered that they cover 90% of the cost of infertility treatments.

IVF costs $12,000 on average.

The cost of my Mirena implant? Less than $1000.

So in a literal sense, my insurance company is willing to shell out THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to help a woman become pregnant as well as pay for the "extras" that go along with being pregnant. Like...exhaustive pre-natal care, an expensive delivery and hospital stay when the baby is born, and the possibility of multiple births that tend to arise from IVF procedures.

They are willing to take on that great cost for women who want children, but aren't willing to help childless women like me (who cost them MUCH less money), remain CHILDLESS by paying for a relatively inexpensive birth control procedure or even a tubal ligation (which they also DON'T COVER)?

WHAT THE FUCK?

It truly appalls me. Perhaps I shouldn't be so stunned or appalled but I am. It's a completely discriminatory practice if you really contemplate it. They are subsidizing reproduction yet providing almost no support for those of us who are trying to be be diligent in our use of birth control, and in the end cost them much less money.

Look- if they want to be generous and assist people with having babies, FINE. I have NO ISSUE WITH THAT.

My PROBLEM is with the fact that support is given for THOSE individuals while none is given for me, when mine is just as valid a choice and costs them NOTHING in comparison.

This is one of the many times that I am truly befuddled by how the world works and our collective priorities as a society.

I don't want to hear another motherfucker tell me that we don't live in a pro-natalist culture willing to forever validate and support the choice to have children (even when it's in an irresponsible manner) over the choice not to.