IUD (Intrauterine Device): Testimonials

my name is Mal and I'm 30 and I have a Mirena IUD. i work as a paramedic i work at university of colorado hospital in the emergency room. I've been a paramedic for 10 years now. in my free time I like to watch documentaries. I'm a pretty big activist here in the Denver Metro area for transgender inclusivity. yeah I've never really used any birth control method prior to getting the Mirena in 2013. I've historically been in relationships with cisgender women so it's never pregnancy, has never been a worry as far as that goes. prior to in my last relationship it was any sort of anything that we used when we had sex we used protection if it was condoms, dental dams, that kind of thing. i originally found the Mirena basically through talking with friends and stuff. like that at first being genderqueer and kind of presenting masculinely I had a hard time getting the courage up enough to go to a health center and say like hey I'd really like to learn more about the IUD because going into doctor's offices have been it's not been the most comfortable thing for me with how I am perceived by healthcare staff so it took me about a year and a half and finally with the help of my ex-partner got the courage up enough to go into clinic and ask to get an IUD. getting an iud for me it was painful maybe for about 10 seconds but then I think I was more proud of myself with the stories that I heard from other people as far as pain goes but it was a very simple quick process I'd say it took probably about 10 minutes for the whole kinda start to finish what i like about the IUD is that I no longer get periods with the help of testosterone I like that. it's good for five years so i don't really have to go through the process of getting one taken out and put back in like every year, three months, or what have you the only thing I didn't like about the IUD when I had it first place was about you know the first three months there was some cramping and just getting used to that and dealing with that was really worth it but that was probably the only thing that I didn't like about it i think when i first wanted to get the iud it was because I was having heavy periods and although it bothered me at work and made that pretty inconvenient as far as my gender identity goes I didn't feel like I was supposed to have a period in the first place so it was kind of a double whammy to have really heavy ones and feel like I never should have had one to begin with so the Mirena really helped in my self-confidence enough to be like you know this is who i am i'm feeling this way coming out to my partner at the time and then my friends and being very supported originally when i started my transition I didn't feel like I could continue having the Mirena because of the hormones that are involved with Mirena i really had to step up and and talk to my physician about that and what I found out was it actually helps your vaginal health with your every part of your reproductive system to have an IUD when you are on testosterone the main advice that I'd like to share is specifically with trans men is don't fall into gender roles, as far as, you know, if you do sleep with cisgender men or you know really anyone and pregnancy is a concern for you, don't be scared to talk to your doc about possibly getting an IUD placed take care of your vaginal health as much as you can because there are a lot of side effects from other hormones that we we take or that we're interested in and you know I think that your body is your temple and there's nothing wrong with having a conversation with your physician about the possibility of staying safe and staying healthy.