No condom and on the pill for 3 years

[crazypenguin]

Hello. I'm not sure whether this would be allowed or not, but I am not finding any information elsewhere. I have tried 2 different birth control pills and am currently on cryselle. I take it everyday at 5 pm - sometimes a few minutes later (5:15, 5:30) l, occassionally an hour or two later (6 or 7). I haven't been on any antibiotics, never missed a pill. My question - is it safe for my boyfriend to ejaculate inside me without a condom? I understand there is a 1% failure rate but I was told that is only if you aren't taking it as directed. We aren't ready for a baby but we'd like to enjoy sex. Also, If he does, will taking plan b afterwards be too much?

[al]

Hi there crazypenguin, and welcome to Scarleteen!

First of all, I'm glad to hear that you've gotten into the habit of taking your pill consistently - that's the key to successful pregnancy prevention! You're right in that even with "perfect use" (meaning that you don't miss pills or take meds that interfere with them), the rate of effectiveness is 99.7%, so the chance of becoming pregnant from unprotected sex is pretty low. But, it's not a guarantee. That's why we usually recommend using condoms as well - it increases the effectiveness to as close to 100% as possible. (You can read about other combinations of birth control over at The Buddy System: Effectiveness Rates for Backing Up Your Birth Control.)
You mentioned taking emergency contraception afterwards- while you could definitely do this, and it would greatly decrease your chances of pregnancy, it's not a sustainable method of backing up your birth control. Emergency contraception can be pretty rough on the system, because it essentially flushes everything out and restarts at whatever point you're at in the cycle. The long-term effects of frequently taking EC haven't been studied, and at the very least you may not personally enjoy going through the slightly more severe side effects every time you have unprotected sex. (You can read more about this in that article I linked to).

The other thing to consider is that hormonal contraception doesn't offer any protection against sexually transmitted infections like herpes, HIV, or HPV. It's a good idea for partners to test for STIs before having condomless sex (unless neither of you has been sexually active before), just to ensure that no one is unknowingly carrying something that might be transferred without the protection of a barrier method. And should one of those tests come out positive, that may mean seeking treatment and/or deciding whether/how to have sex with barrier methods to prevent the spread of the STI.

So that's what it boils down to - you know your own ability to take your birth control correctly, so you know its effectiveness; and you know or will know your and your partner's risk of transmitting an STI based on your sexual history. Those are the facts specific to the situation, but as for whether or not that level of risk is comfortable and acceptable is a decision only you can make. I personally am a worrier, and so I sleep, eat, and do other things a lot easier when I know I'm as close to 100% guarantees as I can get. Other people I know are in later stages of their lives, and feel that the possibility of being pregnant isn't a totally bad idea, and so they're liable to be a little more relaxed with their contraceptive choices. But which reproductive/contraceptive choices feel best to you can only be determined by, well... you! (Well, and your partner. It's a mutual sharing and deciding upon what feels best.)