Oral contraceptive pill

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Oral contraceptives, abbreviated OCPs, are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control.

Female [edit]

Two types of female oral contraceptive pill are widely available:

Emergency contraception pills are taken at the time of intercourse, or within a few days afterwards.

Other types of female oral contraceptive are experimental or only available in limited areas:

  • Mifepristone is an antiprogestogen which has been used as a daily oral contraceptive in investigational clinical trials.
  • Ormeloxifene (also known as Centchroman) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator which is taken one to two times per week. Ormeloxifene is approved as an oral contraceptive only in India.

Male [edit]

  • Male oral contraceptives are currently not available commercially, although several possibilities are in various stages of research and development