Can the pill affect who you are attracted to?
What's the lowdown?
More people are asking if hormonal contraceptives can change their sexuality or who they are attracted to.
Scientific research is mixed, but shows it’s unlikely that hormonal contraceptives affect your relationships.
Sex drive can be affected by hormonal contraception which may be why you feel attractiveness changes.
Over the last year, a surprising number of you have asked me this question in contraception appointments – “is the pill changing who I’m attracted to?”. So here we are to decipher the lived experience alongside the research to try and get answers.
There has been lots of debate about whether hormonal contraception can influence your sexual preferences and who you’re attracted to. Especially as people share personal experiences of changes in attraction after starting or stopping contraception. In a Lowdown survey of 1,362 people from April 2023 22% felt the pill slightly altered their sexuality, 5% noted more significant changes, and 73% reported no change at all.
These stories suggest birth control might impact attraction, but science offers mixed answers. Sarah E. Hill, an evolutionary psychologist, says it’s possible that the hormones in birth control can influence who we’re attracted to because hormones affect sexual feelings1. Since birth control changes the levels of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, it could make a difference in how some people feel.
Researchers have also studied whether birth control changes how women see masculine features in men. In the past, scientists thought that women were more attracted to masculine traits, like a strong jawline, when they were ovulating, when you’re at your peak fertility. Some worried that birth control, which stops ovulation, might change those preferences2. This idea became popular on social media, with TikTokkers asking if birth control changes attraction.
However, more recent research shows no strong evidence for this idea. Studies by Marcinkowska et al. (2019) and Jones et al. (2018) found that women on birth control were no less attracted to masculine traits than women not using it. These findings suggest that birth control doesn’t really change who we find attractive.
Another big study by Jern et al. (2018) looked at whether starting or stopping birth control affected the quality of relationships. They found no significant changes, meaning birth control is unlikely to affect how strong or happy a relationship is.
I’ve scrolled through many of our hormonal contraception reviews, and used the search function to look for anyone who mentions a change in sexuality or finding their partner less attractive…..I couldn’t find any mention in over 7000 reviews. I wonder if this change in sexuality and attractiveness might actually be a change in desire or sex drive. Which we know is a possible side effect of hormonal contraception. And if this is happening to you, we have tips to improve your libido and a sex coach expert on hand to help.
In summary, while some people feel their preferences change with birth control, the research shows these changes are likely small or very personal. Sexual attraction is complex, and hormones are just one part of what shapes who we like.
Dr Fran Yarlett
Dr Fran is Medical Director at The Lowdown and works as a GP in Sheffield with a special interest in complex medical patients and women’s health.
Our medical review process
This article has been medically reviewed for factual and up to date information by a Lowdown doctor.
