‘Why yuh want the whole box a condom?’
FROM pills and injections to intrauterine devices, patches, spermicides, and more, there are a number of birth control methods available in Jamaica. Most of them are administered to women, but there is also a non-surgical method available for men — the male condom.
Emergency contraceptive pills, which can prevent pregnancies up to three days after engaging in sexual intercourse, are also available
However, despite the variety of birth control methods that can be accessed over the counter or administered free at health centres, many people still shy away or ask other people to get it for them.
In some circumstances, too, some ridiculous comments are made by those selling the contraceptives, or others witnessing the purchase. A few readers share the most ridiculous comments they’ve received when trying to purchase contraceptives.
Anessi, 28, unemployed:
I was trying to get the morning after pill but I didn’t know the different brands or which one would be best for me, so I was asking the lady at the counter what was the difference between the brands, and side effects and so on. She seemed very annoyed that I didn’t just come in and grab the first one she recommended. She went as far as to say, “Lady, if you don’t know about the pills, just go do your thing and come buy a pregnancy test in two weeks.”
Sean, 31, landscaper:
I went in a Chinese wholesale to buy a box of condoms. I don’t like buying them, because it feels awkward, so I always buy a lot at once. So I practically whispered my order to the worker, and she asked at the top of her voice: “Why yuh want the whole box a condom? A so you a gwaan bad?” I still don’t get why she was so shocked. Did she actually think I would use them all at once?
Keeli, 24, blogger:
I went to buy a morning after pill in my sixth-form uniform when I was 19. The cashier said: “We don’t sell contraceptives to children.” I told her I was an adult and even offered to show my ID, but she insisted that I come back out of my uniform. I had to go to another pharmacy to get it. In a country where abortion is illegal, I don’t get why they are so reluctant to give people birth control.
Bent, 29, web developer:
I tried buying a morning after pill for my girlfriend, just to be on the safe side. The lady told me that they don’t sell them to men. I asked why, she said I could be buying it to give to a minor. I just asked a lady in the line to cash it for me, because that is utter garbage. A woman can buy it for a minor too.
Kerry, 28, chef:
I guess this happens in most places, because more than one pharmacist asked me, “Who is the pill for?” when buying the morning after pill. But it’s not prescription medication, so it really shouldn’t matter who it’s for. And when I actually go to fill my brother’s prescription they don’t ask that, even though it’s a male name on the prescription I’m filling, and I’m a woman.
Shauna, 25, student:
At the health centre on (The University of the West Indies) campus, you usually buy the injection at the pharmacy then bring it over to the nurses’ station to have it administered. A lady who was in the line with me asked me what kind of injection it was, and I told her. She followed me out and asked me if I knew that it would cause my menstrual blood to “back up” in me and not come out. She was very concerned. I tried explaining how it works to her, but she was convinced that a period just has to come every month or it would be up there “saving up” and causing problems.
— Candiece Knight
