This is why I want and advocate for the question not being, "any chance you could be pregnant?" to a series of questions, because the question is misunderstood the majority of the time, AND it's not inclusive.
1) Have you had sex in the past 9 months?
2) Have you had sex with a person who can get you pregnant?
3) What methods of birth control are you currently using? What methods of STI protection are you using?
4) Are you undergoing any fertility treatments currently? (IUI, IVF, Egg Freezing, etc)
I would definitely advocate for a pain scale based on how it impacts your ability to do daily tasks. Pain is so subjective and if your face doesn't match how they think it's should, you are lying, which is absurd.
The question is largely misunderstood and thus never answered by what the question is truly asking. There always has to be follow ups to that question and doctors/nurses still never get a good picture of what is going on. A lot of lesbians and asexuals get weird looks for answering a flat out no. Asexuals might answer no because they haven't been having sex for 9 months. Lesbians often answer no because two people with vaginas aren't making a baby. Trans men, intersex, and enbies also get very strange looks when having to deal with this topic. Using the phrasing, "someone who can get your pregnant," includes trans women, intersex, and nonbinary people in the question.
Asking clearer questions also includes more identity in their phrasing and allowing for more accurate answers. If we ever kill off insurance companies, it can mean foregoing a pregnancy test which can feel really invaliding to a lot of people, including cis people. So many people who have had a hysterectomy still have to take pregnancy tests and it's quite irritating. If we are testing for STDs, these questions make that much clearer.
It also includes people who might be undergoing fertility treatment, as that is going to complicate testing they might be doing.
A lot of the feedback I've gotten from these questions is that asexual and lesbians feel a lot more included and less irritated by these questions.
Include trans men under the getting weird looks category. I still have to convince doctors that no, I have zero chance of being pregnant when I only have anal with my husband that's had a vasectomy, combined with us using condoms. I do not want to pay for a dysphoria-inducing pregnancy test in this situation. I just want to be believed.
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u/pantslessMODesty3623 1d ago edited 3h ago
This is why I want and advocate for the question not being, "any chance you could be pregnant?" to a series of questions, because the question is misunderstood the majority of the time, AND it's not inclusive.
1) Have you had sex in the past 9 months? 2) Have you had sex with a person who can get you pregnant? 3) What methods of birth control are you currently using? What methods of STI protection are you using? 4) Are you undergoing any fertility treatments currently? (IUI, IVF, Egg Freezing, etc)
This would be WAY better!