As I was sitting at a stoplight today, three different men approached my car. They all had spray bottles and accessories for a quick windshield clean. At different times, they all squirted some water on my windshield, only stopping after a significant amount of finger wagging “no” from me.
I didn’t have any change on me, and was not in the mood to search my car desperately for any, either. “No means no, mister!” I muttered to myself when they finally left me alone. “Sheesh.”
Is this what they’re like in bed too, I wondered? “Come on, I’ve already started! We can’t turn this around now!”
I’m probably not being fair to these dudes. If all the money I got was from people’s volunteer change for a service they didn’t ask for under the blaring sun, I’d probably be pretty insistent, too.
But I was thinking about this article, and about sex, and about pregnancy, and about statistics, and about — of course — birth control options in Mexico.
And looking at the statistics regarding unplanned pregnancies, you’d think birth control is hard to get ahold of in Mexico.
It is not. And while Mexico has the highest rate of unplanned pregnancies in the OECD, there are some signs that those numbers are going down.
I am not here to judge anyone, of course. Plenty of women and girls who get pregnant did not necessarily have a say in the matter. Unfortunately, laws regarding rape — including statutory — and sexual coercion are about as easy to enforce as most other laws around here are. For many crimes, impunity reigns.
But let’s talk about prevention. For this, we shall pretend that we live in a perfect world in which all sexual encounters are fun, respectful, and consensual. That’s the hope I think most of us have for each other.
As someone who’s spent her adult life in Mexico, I’ve put quite a bit of energy myself into not getting pregnant when I didn’t want to get pregnant. So far, success! Just a few more years till full-on menopause and I’m home free, people!
Thankfully, Mexico does its darndest to help make avoiding accidental pregnancy possible. Let me count the ways!
Public health services provide birth control in Mexico
It’s free! I first became aware of this at my local clinic when I took my then-baby for her vaccines. There was a table set up with information on sexual health all spread out! Options were many: condoms, birth control pills, IUDs, even those implant things.
Of course, actually walking up to the table to examine options meant doing so in front of the audience of strangers in a waiting room, and therein lies one of the major problems: people, especially young people, want to investigate that kind of thing in private.
A friend who used to live in a small town where many girls got married, pregnant, by 15 spelled it out for me. “The ladies who work at these small city clinics gossip. And for a teenage girl, planning to have sex is seen as almost worse than having sex and getting pregnant accidentally.” Yikes.
While the Mexican government is incredibly progressive when it comes to sexual health as a major component of public health, the culture — especially in some of these small communities — can mean the prevalence of much more conservative views overall. Next!
Vasectomies
Vasectomies are also a free service through public health institutes, and I’ve had several friends who have taken advantage of the service. Mostly, these friends have been urban and educated, because again, health policy is not always a match for culture. I’ve heard just as many men refuse to get their male pets neutered because they wanted to protect their sense of masculinity. My best guess is that these are not the men going in for vasectomies themselves. But they could, and the service is there waiting for them. I wish they’d all go the moment they realize they don’t want more or any kids.
You can also “get your tubes tied” if you’re a woman at a public hospital, though some will not perform reversible procedures on younger women who don’t have kids.
Private health services
Because of the long wait times, most women who can afford to see a private gynecologist see a private gynecologist. This is good, as it spreads things out a bit. The public hospitals are crowded enough! Most private doctors have up-to-date practices and equipment and can help women make decisions about the ideal birth control for them. IUDs, both hormonal and non-hormonal, are popular choices. They last several years, and last I checked ran at about $2,000 MXN. They can also, of course, perform surgeries and give injections and insert implants.
Pharmacies
Unlike in the United States, you do not need a prescription to buy things like birth control pills or patches. You can simply walk in and ask for them! You can obviously buy condoms as well, though you usually need to ask for what you want from behind the counter.
This can be a little awkward if you want to browse — “sorry, could you show me the ribbed ones again?” — though I was delighted one day when I saw a poster board with the different brands literally taped on with their prices written underneath. Adorable and helpful (and unusually for Mexico, extremely convenient for accessing birth control)!
Sex shops
I know this is kind of a weird entry, but hey — they are into safe sex! They also have many suggestions for how to practice it in a fun way, so really, you can’t go wrong!
So, there are lots of ways to not get pregnant. To gain access to them, of course, there’s a bit of planning and legwork involved. Can we start a public campaign that makes planning for sex as fun-sounding as spontaneity? Public education programs are trying.
Hopefully, the rest of the culture will catch up soon.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
