I’d like to share three small stories about some important women in my life.

In her mid-twenties, my wife discovered that she had PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Women with this condition develop multiple cysts on their ovaries, causing problems with their periods, and often preventing their ability to get pregnant. This problem is caused by a hormonal imbalance.

For personal reasons, we were not interested in having children, but the fact remained that she was experiencing a medical condition and needed treatment. That treatment, as recommended by her gynecologist, was birth control.

This treatment option was not without its risks, because birth control of course can have negative side effects. However, the point is that she was given a viable treatment option, she was informed of the pros and cons, and she had the ability and insurance to cover the treatment.

No one else, including her doctor or her husband, could make that choice for her. She took the birth control, and the cysts went away. Birth control was her medicine. We still have not had children, and do not have interest in having children, but now we know we have the option.

Around the same time, a friend of ours also discovered that she had PCOS. Like us, she and her husband were not interested in having children. Again, birth control was her medicine. She got better, and then they decided to try for a baby after all. When she became pregnant, they were both scared—they had never had children before! Still, together they chose to keep the baby, and now they are all a very happy family. In this case, birth control actually allowed a woman to given birth and discover a joyful new role as a loving mother.

I’d like to fast forward to the present. I have a good friend who desperately wants to have children. Most of her close friends are parents, and she is now in her early thirties. She and her husband have been trying to have children for years. She, too, has PCOS. Unfortunately, living in Texas, and with the insurance her employer provides, she does not have access to birth control. She does have other treatment options; for instance, she has become exercise-crazy in order to lose weight. However, none of the treatment options she’s used have been effective. Unlike the women in the first two stories, she does not have the means to choose birth control. This is a loving, married woman who would make an outstanding mother. Even if she chose to adopt, she would still have a worrisome medical condition to contend with. She needs help. She needs access. She needs options.

Birth control can help women who would be great mothers discover their greatest joy in life.