Is Birth Control OVER For Gen Z?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Isabel Brown Show

Episode: Is Birth Control OVER For Gen Z?
Date: June 9, 2026
Host: Isabel Brown, The Daily Wire
Topic: Changing Gen Z Perspectives on Birth Control

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Episode Overview

This episode, recorded on location at Turning Point USA’s Women’s Leadership Summit (WLS) in San Antonio, dives into the shifting attitudes and experiences of Gen Z women around birth control. Host Isabel Brown convenes a panel of college women activists to share their personal stories, examine health impacts, and discuss the broader generational move away from hormonal contraceptives. The conversation foregrounds concerns about mainstream medical practice, faith, bodily autonomy, mental health, and the role of social media in shaping the narrative.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Introduction: Gen Z's Reckoning with Birth Control

(00:57 - 03:53)

• Isabel sets the stage, noting birth control as the “age old question” she gets from Gen Z women.
• She highlights the widespread prescription of birth control to young teens for reasons beyond pregnancy prevention (e.g., acne, period pain).
• Personal anecdote: Isabel started birth control at 15 for acne related to Accutane, stayed on due to medical advice until she read This is Your Brain on Birth Control by Dr. Sarah Hill, which radically changed her view.
  • “It was so shocking that I was losing interest in all my hobbies, that I was attracted to more feminine men instead of more masculine men.” (02:57, Isabel)
• The panel is introduced as “real students” sharing lived experiences.

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II. Panel Introductions & Personal Stories

(03:53 - 05:18)

• Ella (Calvin University): Active in Turning Point for 6 years.
• Sydney Gilliland (ASU, Turning Point Founder): Political science graduate.
• Tessa Bedford (U. of Central Oklahoma): Student, incoming Turning Point staff.
• Berkley Antner (Metropolitan State University): Former chapter founder, upcoming new role.

Memorable Moment: Warm camaraderie as Isabel congratulates Tessa and Berkley for leadership transitions.

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III. Why and How Did They Start Birth Control?

(06:05 - 13:41)

Common Themes:

• Medicalizing Normalcy:
  • Most were prescribed birth control for non-pregnancy reasons (period pain, acne, PCOS, etc.).
  • Doctors often presented the pill as a “magic” solution, with little mention of alternatives or risks.

Stories:

• Berkley: Put on birth control at 12 for period cramps; stayed on until 18. Reflected on doctors’ trust in the system and the lack of deeper investigation:
  • “You imagine that they have your best interest at heart. Not that they don’t. Maybe they’re not actually completely educated in this also…” (06:05, Berkley)
• Tessa: Severe pain and missed school led to her starting birth control at 14 for seven years; chronic migraines developed but disappeared after quitting.
  • “I feel like a completely different person since getting off of it. I feel more like myself, I’m way happier.” (09:56, Tessa)
• Ella: Diagnosed at 14 with PCOS, told she’d otherwise not have kids—doctor’s fear tactics and mental health toll led her to do her own research and quit.
• Sydney: Only took the pill once—her chronic health issues and dislike of daily meds deterred her from continuing; notes persistent offers of birth control for various unrelated health issues.
  • “Every single time I was getting checked up on, they were offering birth control… It was just never really an option for my parents because I have, thank God, good parents.” (14:17, Sydney)

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IV. The Push for Root Cause & Natural Approaches

(15:10 - 16:10)

• Panelists question why doctors reach for birth control as a first option instead of investigating root causes of women’s health issues.
• Sydney: Observes the lack of research into PCOS, broad use of “band aid” solutions, and the historical efficacy of natural/home remedies.

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V. Life After Birth Control: Physical & Emotional Shifts

(16:10 - 19:38; 22:34 - 26:17)

• Tessa: Shifted to regular periods and no pain after quitting, but endured a difficult transition (32-day-long period).
• Ella: Recognized how birth control took a toll on her mental health and identity; disturbed by doctor’s dismissive stance (“stop your period altogether because periods are inconvenient” (22:52, Ella)).
• Berkley: Noted skin issues (eczema, rashes) and inflammation while on contraceptives; significant improvement after quitting.
• Quote: “It’s not an inconvenience. It’s actually such a blessing and a sign that your body’s functioning properly.” (23:01, Berkley)

Informed Consent & Lasting Concerns:

• None felt properly educated as teens on risks or potential future fertility consequences.
  • “How do you consent at 14?” (26:20, Tessa)
• Tessa: Now worries about long-term effects: “What if I, in 10 years, struggle with having children? Or what if I get cancer from taking birth control for so long? It’s absolutely horrifying…” (26:24, Tessa)

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VI. Generational Shifts: Who’s Wising Up?

(27:45 - 28:04)

• Panelists reflect on their responsibility as “guinea pigs” for future generations—hoping parents are becoming more cautious with their daughters.
• Sydney: Observes birth control “almost mass produced” among her peers, linked to a permissive culture and lack of parental/faith-based guidance.

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VII. The Role of Social Media & Community

(30:32 - 32:54)

• Social Media: A key source of information—but anti-birth-control content is still minor compared to pro-birth-control messages.
  • Tessa: “When people hear medicine, they’re like, okay, that works. That’s good for me, it's medicine.” (30:40, Tessa)
  • Ella: “The more I look into anti birth control, the more the media is trying to push it on me.” (32:34, Ella)
• Community: Impactful conversations happen first among friends, in small circles, then ripple out.

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VIII. Faith, Femininity, and Empowerment

(23:20; 33:07 - 36:32)

• Biblical Framing: Periods and fertility are described as blessings and central to femininity and God’s design.
  • “It’s a blessing to get your period. It’s a blessing to be able to have your body work normally in the way it’s supposed to, the way God intended it to work.” (36:15, Ella)
• Pain as Purpose: Both Berkley and Isabel articulate the idea that pain is an opportunity for spiritual connection and growth, not simply a symptom for medication.
  • “Pain is a gift, which is not often talked about… pain is how we unite with God.” (33:58, Isabel)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Attraction Shift: “I was losing interest in all my hobbies, I was attracted to more feminine men instead of more masculine men.” (02:57, Isabel)
• On Informed Consent: “How do you consent at 14? ... I’m a baby. My mind isn’t fully developed and I’m young and irrational...” (26:20, Tessa)
• Faith Perspective: “God did not make a mistake. He didn’t mess you up and your pain is not something that he said a whoopsie daisy on.” (35:21, Sydney)
• Medical Critique: “Doctors are pushing birth control... because they just think that works, but it’s just a band aid.” (11:40, Ella)
• On Social Media Pressure: “The more I look into anti birth control, the more the media is trying to push it on me.” (32:34, Ella)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:57 - Host intro and context-setting at WLS
• 02:40 - Isabel: Life-altering perspective shift from Dr. Sarah Hill’s book
• 06:05 - Berkley and Tessa discuss early start on birth control for pain/cramps
• 09:55 - Tessa describes how her health changed after quitting
• 13:41 - Sydney: Chronic health issues, doctor’s persistent offers of BC
• 16:10 - The “root cause” vs. “band aid” medicine debate begins
• 22:41 - Ella details mental health impacts; critique of doctors stopping periods for “convenience”
• 23:20 - Sydney offers a biblical perspective on femininity and health
• 26:24 - Panel reflects on fears about long-term consequences and lack of informed consent
• 30:40 - Discussion about influence and prevalence of social media on health choices
• 33:07 - Panelists distill their core advice/messages for peers
• 36:15 - “It’s a blessing to get your period ... the way God intended it to work.”

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Key Takeaways

• Most panelists were prescribed birth control as young teens for reasons other than pregnancy, often without real choice or information.
• All describe significant, often negative, personal impacts—physical, mental, emotional—and positive changes after quitting.
• A new generational skepticism is growing regarding “band aid” medical approaches; there’s desire for deeper investigation and “natural” solutions.
• The experience of pain is re-framed as meaningful and spiritually significant, not just something to be suppressed.
• Faith and familial values are presented as essential in shaping young women’s health choices.
• Social media serves as both battleground and support network for these emerging narratives.

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“It gives your body the opportunity to flourish, gives your mind the opportunity to have balance when you let it do its own progression in the way that it needs to.” — Berkley Antner (33:07)

“Your pain is not something that [God] said a whoopsie daisy on.” — Sydney Gilliland (35:21)

“It’s a blessing to be able to bear children. And that’s every month is a sign that your body is able to do that and it’s normal.” — Ella (36:15)

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Episode Value:
This honest and wide-ranging conversation spotlights the growing Gen Z disillusionment with hormonal birth control, skepticism toward mainstream medical advice, and the importance placed on faith, community, and bodily autonomy. The panel’s unfiltered storytelling provides a vivid window into how women's health debates are rapidly evolving—especially on college campuses and in conservative circles.

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Recommended For:
Any listener curious about the new wave of women’s health attitudes, parents of teenage daughters, faith-driven health advocates, and those questioning current medical norms.

Transcript

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[Moderator/Host]

Hey guys, I am currently in San Antonio, Texas at Turning Point USA's Women's Leadership Summit. I'm about to head on stage to give my speech, but I thought one of the most amazing opportunities that we

[Narrator/Announcer]

could have at this conference is to give you an insight and a real window into what Gen Z women not content creators or podcasters, but real students

[Moderator/Host]

living through these real problems every day. Really think about the issues impacting our generation of women to kick things off in a very spicy and fun way. Maybe the topic I get the most questions about from current high school and college students right now is the age old question of birth control, which has been a pretty taboo subject in the conservative and Christian world up till now. But we're slowly discovering that most of the women of our generation were put on birth control pills or the shot

[Narrator/Announcer]

or an IUD or the little implant in your arm when we were 13,

[Moderator/Host]

14, 15 years old, subsequently told by every doctor in our lives we had to stay on it or else we'll get fat, we'll have acne, we'll get a period. And who wants that? And we're now discovering as an entire

[Narrator/Announcer]

generation how badly our health has been

[Moderator/Host]

impacted as a result. The mainstream media loves when I talk about this. The New York Times has shouted me out as an anti birth control advocate and frankly, I wear it like a badge of honor. But don't take it from me. Take it from the real college age women who are living through the mass exodus from birth control right now as we speak. I am so excited to jump into this Conversation. Because I have gotten more heat for talking about this subject than anything else in all of my content the last few years, and that's birth control. I'm really transparent about the whole thing. I was prescribed birth control when I was a sophomore in high school. I think I was 15 because I got put on Accutane. And you guys know how absolutely embarrassing it is to have horrible acne as a teenager. So you would do just about anything to avoid that at all costs. And then every doctor in my life told me I had to stay on it for as long as humanly possible until the second I was ready to have a kid. But I read one book along the way that totally made me change my mind about the subject, which is called this is yous Brain on Birth Control by an awesome professor here in Texas at TCU. Her name's Dr. Sarah Hill. And I felt like I was reading a manual, like an operating manual of my brain. It was so shocking that I was losing interest in all my hobbies, that I was attracted to more feminine men instead of more masculine men.

[Berkley Antner]

Oops.

[Moderator/Host]

That explains a lot of my dating mistakes I made along the way. The lack of a proper stress response, anxiety, depression. So much so I literally threw my pills in the trash that night when I finished the book and I never looked back. And that was nine years into the journey. But we have assembled a beautiful group of College now graduates and college activists from TPUSA to share your guys birth control experiences as well. And this is so important because I think it's just pulling the curtain back a little bit from what so many women in our generation are experiencing and the messaging that's out there for women about family planning, about our fertility, about balancing your cycle and regulating your hormones and so much more. So quick, introduce your guys selves and where you go to school and how you got involved in tpusa.

[Ella]

I am Ella. I go to Calvin University in Michigan. I started with Turning Point six years ago and I've been with it all through high school and then my first three years of college.

[Sydney Gilliland]

My name is Sydney Gilliland. I founded the Turning Point USA at ASU chapter and I graduated from ASU a little over a year ago. And I'm so blessed. It's a beautiful chapter. I'm so blessed. I was part of Turning Point. Found out about it my junior year of halfway through my junior year of college. So I was only doing that for a little over a year and it was such a great experience. And I studied political science at asu and now I'm here.

[Tessa Bedford]

I love that. Yeah. My name is Tessa Bedford. I'm from Oklahoma, and I go to the University of Central Oklahoma. I've been involved with Turning Point for a little over two years. And then this is my last WLS as a student because I get to start working for them on August 3rd. So I'll keep working for Turning Point USA and helping kids and college kids and hopefully young women so that they don't start taking birth control. And I would just love to keep doing that, too. But I'm excited.

[Moderator/Host]

Congratulations. That's awesome.

[Berkley Antner]

My name is Berkley Antner, and I founded the Metropolitan State University chapter in Denver. It was amazing. I only did it for five months, but it was amazing being able to curate a team of people. And I will be also assuming a position in the fall, which is very exciting.

[Moderator/Host]

This makes me so happy. As a former Turning Point kid turn staffer myself, I love this so much.

[Tessa Bedford]

Yes.

[Moderator/Host]

Congratulations. That's fantastic. Okay.

[Narrator/Announcer]

No particular order.

[Moderator/Host]

I'm curious. You all have different experiences with birth control, but some experience a little bit. And I think that's really indicative of the women of our generation. Right. Most of us have either been prescribed it or been encouraged to be prescribed it by our doctors for whatever reason under the sun. And I think there's a large misconception by those older than us in the conservative and Christian worlds especially that the only reason you get given birth control pills by your doctor is because you're trying to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. When in reality, most women in our generation were offered birth control for other reasons, painful periods or acne or whatever. That was certainly the case with me. How were you first introduced to the idea of birth control? And why did you start taking it if you did?

[Berkley Antner]

Mine was definitely four periods. It was the cramps, it was the really incessant aches. And I think that was the only thing that my mom knew how to do at the time. Right. That was not something that was really talked about. People really just wanted to trust what their doctors were saying and just go for it, especially in OB gyn, because you imagine that they have your best interest at heart. Not that they don't. Maybe they're not actually completely educated in this also, but that was my first experience, and I was on it for quite a good amount of time. I think it was from when I was 12 to when I was 18. So it was a very. Also transformative period when your hormones are actually trying to figure themselves out. Anyways, so it was definitely at a time where we're growing and it's not the best option. I am off of it now. I've been off of it for four years. But even that getting off of it was. It wasn't as hard about my periods, which is very interesting because that's the whole reason why I got on. It was for my periods and my cramping and so actually you were taken

[Moderator/Host]

to the OBGYN when you were 12 by your mom and said, I'm having a lot of pain when I have my period, which can be unusual, but isn't always unusual. And the very first thing they told a 12 year old was, take these magic pills. Yeah.

[Ella]

Wow.

[Moderator/Host]

That's incredible.

[Berkley Antner]

Yeah.

[Moderator/Host]

Anybody else?

[Tessa Bedford]

So I started taking birth control when I was 14 and I have kind of similar. I was in so much pain that I would have to miss school. And you're only allowed a certain amount of absences and it just really wasn't working. For almost seven days. I would be in so much pain that I would just be curled over and I would be so sick that I would throw up. And I was just in so much pain that my mom was like, okay, maybe something is wrong. Like, maybe we should take you. So she took me to her OB gyn. Literally, the OB GYN that delivered me is who my mom took me to. And they were like, okay, so if we start you on birth control, it should get rid of the pain and you just won't have a period. So I took it every single day for seven years and I never had a period. And it worked for me. I wasn't in pain anymore, but I got chronic migraines from it. And the doctor told me a couple different things would happen for me. He was like, if you start taking birth control, this could help your skin too, because, you know, you're a little teenager and you're about to be a teen for a couple years. Like, you'll have good skin and you'll also gain some weight. Because I always struggled with gaining weight. He was like, you'll gain a little bit of weight too, and then you'll hit your mark and you won't cramp anymore. It's like, okay, that all sounds really good. I never really even thought anything of it. I took it every day. I'm a Christian. I knew I wasn't taking it because I was going out and doing things I didn't believe it in. I took it because I. I didn't want to be in pain every day and I didn't want to miss school. And so I took it every day for seven years. And I got off of it a little before my birthday last August. And right after I got off of it, I had a period for a month.

[Narrator/Announcer]

A month?

[Tessa Bedford]

A month. It was miserable. Nobody wants to be on their period on their birthday. And then I started. I was on my period during the first day of school and all of these big things that were happening, and it was absolutely miserable. The minute I got. I haven't had a period since. I haven't had a migraine since I stopped taking birth control. And I didn't realize that till a couple months ago. I was in my car, and I, like, hit myself in the head, and it was, like, hurting because I, like. I hit the back of my car, and I was like, oh, my gosh, I have a headache. And I hadn't thought about having a headache. And then I was like, oh, my goodness, I wonder why I don't get migraines anymore. It lined up exactly to when I got off of birth control. And I think that is just something important to talk about, because I know a ton of other women that are on birth control right now that get migraines.

[Sydney Gilliland]

I've gotten them all the time.

[Tessa Bedford]

I wonder if it might be from the birth control. And I just feel like a completely different person since getting off of it. I feel more like myself. I'm way happier. My skin is better than when I was on birth control. It really did nothing for me than just take away my period. And ever since I got off of it. I know I had a period for a month then, but now it's regular. I'm not in pain. It's nothing like when I was younger. So I'm wondering if it was just the beginning of having a period, and I was just being a little dramatic, and the doctor was like, okay, we'll pull you in now and get you stuck on birth control and make you feel like you have to take it so you're never in pain. When in reality, I had just started my period, and I didn't know that. I was just having maybe just some cramps that really hurt at the time. But as I get older, they're really not that bad.

[Moderator/Host]

I definitely want to get into the how you feel before and after thing, so don't let me forget to do that. But how about our other stories?

[Ella]

I was put on birth control when I was 14. I was diagnosed with PCOS, and. And my doctor was like, you're never gonna have kids unless you are on birth control. You're gonna. You're Gonna break out. You're gonna have. He scared me with the whole chin hairs and you're gonna grow a beard. And so he put me on birth control. And it completely changed, like, my body, my mind, my thoughts. My mental health was at like an all time low. I was on it for about a year before I did my own research and found out so many more natural ways to deal with PCOS than just birth control. But still, my doctors are pushing birth control. IUDs the shot, the little rod that they put in your arm, because they just think that works, but it's just a band aid.

[Tessa Bedford]

All right, our last one. All right.

[Sydney Gilliland]

I have a little bit different of a story because I never actually technically took birth control. So when I was about 4, 14, 15, I was a swimmer. And when I swam, like, you can't wear makeup and I couldn't cover my acne. And so my mom suggested I go to the dermatologist, get it figured out. They gave me birth control. I took it one time, and then I honestly forgot about. I'm terrible at taking medicine. I'm horrible at that kind of thing. And so I just, I never did it. And I said, I don't want to do it. I can't take a pill daily. I just don't have enough time. I'm a huge workaholic, so I just can't. I can't. And so I never did it. But I also had a chronic stomach disorder growing up. And so I. Throughout my whole life, I'd been poking, prodded. The first two years of my life were spent in the hospital. I had some sort of kidney issue, and then it went to my stomach, and now I've got stuff in my esophagus, something like that. I don't know. After I was in fifth grade, I kind of been over my last procedure and I didn't want to do it anymore. So I don't go to the doctor, really. And I don't want to say anybody else should do that. I. I'm. I'm like a dude. I, you know, I cut my hand. That's fine.

[Moderator/Host]

Like, it did take many years for me to convince my husband to finally go back. Yeah, exactly.

[Sydney Gilliland]

I'm a daddy's girl, so that might, that might account for it. So I'm not saying that you should do that. But I don't like going to the doctor. I do anything I can not to go to the doctor because of that very reason. And so whenever I do or whenever I got sent to the ER a couple years ago with horrible abdominal pain, being told that was just a symptom of whatever I have. And then they tried offering me birth control again.

[Moderator/Host]

Okay, this is so interesting to me because I ran into this a lot throughout all of. I had kidney issues throughout some of my early 20s and ended up in a big surgery that way. And it was so bizarre to me that every time I would be going in for other health issues, they were also asking, oh, wait, are you still on birth control? If you're not, we'll just put you back on. It's no big deal. We'll just do it right away. And I'm thinking to myself, this is odd. I don't expect the urologist who's dealing with my kidney issue to be shoving birth control down my throat. And yet they were. Did you guys experience that too throughout your teenage years and early twenties?

[Sydney Gilliland]

Everything with my skin, everything with my stomach, I have. It's so, from what we understand with my stomach issues, it's ibs, acid reflux, and a mystery bacteria that sits within my intestines that inflames and gives me pain. They did a study on me when I was younger. My everyday feeling is an. The average person's stomach ache. And my stomach ache is the average person going to the urgent care. And so every single time it's getting checked up on or every single time I, like I was in fifth grade at going through procedures and they were offering birth control. Maybe it's some hormone thing saying stuff like that. And so. But it was just never really an option for my parents because I have, thank God, good parents.

[Moderator/Host]

Yeah, but.

[Sydney Gilliland]

Yeah. And so it's just with women, I feel like. And I know so many girls who are on birth control whenever they have any sort of health problem, that's the only option doctors just seem to be able to get. Like you. You were talking about pcos. There's very little research being talked about with pcos. Where does it come from? Why. Why are we having. Why are so many women starting off with bad periods? Why are we all going through some sort of hormone dysfunction? I'm sure I'm probably going through some hormone. Some hormone imbalance, but I don't know what it is and nobody can tell me. And I don't know why. What are some natural remedies, but we don't do those things. Just like what we were talking about. A housemaid is better than any doctor when it comes to, like, giving birth or taking care of women. Why is that? Why can't. Why do we have to have these. These medicines and these pills thrown at our faces instead of just. Just having our bodies getting to, like,

[Berkley Antner]

the root of why those things are happening, too.

[Moderator/Host]

Why do you have to have these

[Sydney Gilliland]

band aids, these band aid solutions?

[Moderator/Host]

I'm seeing that with fertility, too, and I don't want to take us off too far from the birth control conversation. But so many of my friends that are trying to have babies are going through years and years and years of infertility, and now the new hot diagnosis in the world of obgyns is unexplained infertility. They say one in seven couples who are trying to conceive have unexplained infertility, which is bogus. Right? Of course, there's an explanation for why your body isn't working properly, but they don't want to give you an answer for that. Instead, they'll try to sell you on ivf or they'll try to put you through other fertility treatments instead of getting to that root cause. I am seeing a huge generational shift in values, though, when it comes to medicine and health, of wanting to figure out the root cause. And a lot of that is what's spurring this mass exodus from birth control. Whether that's the pill or the implant or the shots or the iud. What was your impetus for those that did take the pill or have any sort of other form of hormonal birth control to want to quit?

[Tessa Bedford]

So I've been, like, on some medications my whole life. I got diagnosed with ADHD when I was younger, so I've tried a ton of ADHD medicines, and so I take those all the time, and I hate taking medicines. I'm really bad at it. It's just not for me. I always had a hard time taking medicines, and it was just getting kind of hard to, like, get them to refill it. I was really struggling with that, too. I just kept having to call the doctor instead of being able to. To just scan it and get it filled in. And for me, it was too much work. And I was like, okay, I'm about to turn 21. Let me just see if I can get off of it. I'm not taking it for any other reasons. And I was like, I bet I'll be okay. I was like, let me see if there's a way for me to not take a pill every day and just see if I can deal with it. I know a ton of women who have a period. And I was like, I bet I can do this. So I just stopped taking it because I just, I didn't want to mess with it anymore. And then I had the nightmare that was a month long period and I thought it would never end. At day 10, I was like, okay, like, maybe this is a thing. I bet we're like rearing the corner. After 32 days was when my period stopped. 32 days. Miserable. Last month of summer, I couldn't go swimming. It was terrible. I just wanted to sit at home and do nothing because I was like, I was absolutely miserable and it was so heavy. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. And I was like, something's gotta be wrong. So I called the gynecologist and they were like, that can happen when you get off of birth control. Like that's normal. And I didn't go into the gynecologist until November, and so I had a new gynecologist and I told her, I was like. So I stopped taking birth control, but I did have a period for a month. And she was like, okay, how have your periods been since then? I told her, I was like, they've been super regular, nothing out of the ordinary. And she was like, okay, so when do you want to get back on it? And I was like, I don't. They've only been four days. They're really regular. They come almost at the exact same day, maybe a day later every month. I had never experienced that before because before I got on birth control they were just like every month and a half or every two months. And it's just because I was young and it just wasn't fully there yet. And so I was like, no, I'm okay, I'm good. Like, the month long one was terrible, but that's gone now. And I'm totally fine. And choosing like, well, when you're ready to get back on it, just call and we'll get it filled for the next day. And I was like, okay, I don't think I will, but thank you. And she was like, okay. And I remember coming home and I was like, okay, I feel good about it. Like, I don't want to be back on it again. My little sister, who's 16, went to the gynecologist a week later and they told her that they thought she had endometriosis, which my mom has. And that's just an excruciating amount of pain. It's absolutely miserable. And they were like, so do you want to get on birth control? But my sister gets migraines, not from birth control. And she sees like an aura of light. And when you have that you can't get on birth control because you're at risk for a stroke. And so my little sister is viewing it as she's sad because she saw how I had no period for a long time time. And I keep trying to tell her that I know she's in excruciating amount of pain and it's devastating to see and she has these big crocodile tears. And no big sister wants to see that for their little sister. But I keep telling her that I know she wants to be a mama and I know that she wants to be happy and healthy. And I keep reminding her that it's gonna be okay that she's not on it and that the doctor telling her to be on it is not good because she'll feel more like herself if she's not on it.

[Narrator/Announcer]

One of the things I was so inspired by seeing last weekend at turning point USA's WLS is how much of the speeches, the exhibit hall, and even just the conversations I was overhearing among the girls at the conference had to do with prioritizing their health. And it's not just quitting birth control. This is about the food that you eat, escaping the pharmaceutical industry and prioritizing probably the most important part of your health that you don't think about every single day, how much sleep you're getting at night and the quality of what that sleep looks like. I can tell you I have struggled

[Moderator/Host]

with my sleep the last couple of years because I've been pregnant and then

[Narrator/Announcer]

I had a baby who was allergic to sleep.

[Moderator/Host]

Somehow.

[Narrator/Announcer]

My sister literally just bought us the kids book, the Baby who Never Sleeps. We read it quite often in our house to our daughter, but the quality of my sleep has gone up substantially ever since. About a year ago, my husband and I made the switch finally to a Helix mattress, deciding that we were done with just buying the random Amazon mattress that shows up at your door, but really investing in our quality of sleep. And it has been a total game changer for my husband, for my daughter, who now is in a floor bed and has a Helix mattress of her own, and most importantly for mom around here who doesn get a lot of sleep but manages to make the whole house run every day. Helix makes it so, so easy. You take a super quick quiz on their website to be matched to the perfect mattress that fits your sleep preferences. Then they ship it to your front door with free shipping in a box so you never have to worry about going to pick it up and transport a mattress all across town. Plus you get to try it out through a 120 night sleep trial to make sure it actually works for you.

[Moderator/Host]

You guys can go find the mattress

[Narrator/Announcer]

that you need to invest in in prioritizing your own [e-mail] isabelle for 20% off site wide and that's helixsleep.com isabel and another huge component of stuff that we ended up talking about this last weekend at Turning Points conference was the changing that we're seeing in the American education system. Every single one of the students at this conference are rock stars in their own right and are very firmly planted in their conservative values no matter where they go to school. But I heard from so many students how important it was to them in starting college these last few years to find a university that's actually prioritizing real academic excellence and the Christian values that make up the foundation of our society. And maybe no campus does that better in America than Grand Canyon University right now. You guys might know I lived in Phoenix, Arizona for many years while working for Turning Point USA and I knew a whole lot of people who graduated from Grand Canyon. They have a beautiful campus and a massive online student population as well. And in addition to prioritizing real academics that focus on career readiness and launching you into success after you graduate, they also are committed to making education affordable and have never increased their tuition on campus in the last 17 years, which is unheard of. Plus they awarded more than $400 million in institutional scholarships in 2025 alone. But most importantly, GCU is focused on creating an entire generation of students that graduate ready to lead our country with integrity rooted in the Christian values that have always made our society special. If you're looking for the right fit on where you should pursue your higher education, go find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Private Christian, affordable nonprofit head to get GCU Edu to learn more.

[Moderator/Host]

Yeah, this feeling like yourself concept. I know you mentioned a toll on your mental health when you were on on the pill. Was that part of your driving force for wanting to quit?

[Ella]

It was. I feel like my biggest thing was when I went back to my doctor for a check in and she told me to continue on birth control, to stop my period altogether because periods are inconvenient.

[Moderator/Host]

O that's not what you want to hear.

[Ella]

She said they were inconvenient. If I just took birth control, I'd never have a period and it would be be all good and I wouldn't have to ever worry about it.

[Berkley Antner]

It's not an inconvenience. It's actually such a Blessing and a

[Moderator/Host]

sign that your body's functioning properly.

[Ella]

And nowadays I hear all of these like 14 year old girls getting prescribed birth control to stop their periods as well just because it's inconvenient. And that's just awful. It's not how your body's supposed to work. Periods are normal.

[Sydney Gilliland]

Can I just talk about like the concept that like biblically, like women are supposed to, that's supposed to happen. In fact like it talks about it all the way back in Leviticus. Right. Like women should leave the camp and like, and do their thing together. Right. It's healthy. That's how we're supposed to, we're supposed to be this way. We're supposed to have children and be fertile and do the thing that our body does. So this idea that the period is an inconvenience, I mean talk about anti feminists.

[Moderator/Host]

Yeah, it's trying to turn your body into a man's body, which no one ever likes to talk about it that way, but that's exactly what it's trying to do. It's ruining your normal monthly hormone cycle by trying to mimic that of a 24 hour cycle of a man. Berkley, why'd you quit?

[Berkley Antner]

I got off birth control from skin conditions and my body was super inflamed. I just was really ready and I. That was kind of at the start of the research really coming out, hearing about different experiences for women. And that really also made me feel somewhat easeful in the decision to get off of it. That trifecta though was definitely something that was very pivotal in my overall health. When we were kind of talking about mental health earlier too. It's so important to be able to have mental health and have that be steady. And getting off of birth control was definitely a huge step. But because it just gives you your body's natural regulation, it's not. I don't think that hormones are all bad necessarily. Some people, especially getting into menopause or post menopause sometimes that's a great aid in transition. But I think starting so young, not even really knowing why it was happening and having all of those things happen, but with my skin, that was something that was really hard. I got eczema, rashes all over my neck and they didn't go away for probably three months after I got off because I was taking the depo shot at that time. I believe it's a month until you get your next one. And so that was right at the beginning when I just decided no. Right, a week. I think after I got My shot, I was like, I cannot do this anymore.

[Moderator/Host]

So I've heard chronic migraines, which I dealt with. They put me on a prescription migraine medication actually when I was on birth control. So I was taking two extra things which I somehow always block out of my memory. But that was happening. Skin issues, obviously. Mental health implications of all of this as well. There's a massive multinational lawsuit happening right now for the Depo Provera shot about brain tumor growth that is getting a lot of attention in the mainstream media, obviously on all the warning labels and everything that no one ever really reads on pharmaceuticals. There's warnings about cancer and blood clots and strokes and everything. Do you feel like you were ever actually given informed consent about what could happen from a negative effects perspective as

[Ella]

a 12 year old?

[Moderator/Host]

Fair enough.

[Berkley Antner]

No.

[Tessa Bedford]

How do you consent at 14?

[Moderator/Host]

Yeah, that too.

[Tessa Bedford]

I'm a baby. My mind isn't fully developed and I'm young and irrational and I don't know what's going on. And I'm like, okay, if I take this pill, I'll never have a period and I can swim every day in the summer. That sounds amazing. And now I'm 21 and I took birth control for seven years and I'm reading all of these things that are coming out about it and I've been off of it for almost a year and I feel better about myself. And I'm like, I was taking this thing that was absolutely destroying my body for seven years and everybody was telling me it was amazing for me and how lucky I was that I didn't have a period and could do whatever I wanted to. And now I'm like, what if I, in 10 years struggle with having children? Or what if I get cancer from taking birth control for so long? It's absolutely horrifying that a little decision that my doctor made for me at the age of 14 is going to have lasting repercussions for me in my adult life.

[Berkley Antner]

Yeah, we're the guinea pigs for that next generation to really see what it's going to be like fertility wise. We're kind of seeing that, like, little cusp of it now. But this has never been taken in this way ever. Yeah. And so it's certainly not for as

[Moderator/Host]

long as we've all been taking it.

[Berkley Antner]

I mean, at the age also, that is.

[Ella]

And why are we now allowing these little babies to say yes to what the doctors are saying? Why aren't we, like, allowing the parents to make these decisions for their kids?

[Moderator/Host]

Do you guys think that more? I mean, Some of you have younger siblings. I'm sure you all have younger cousins or younger girls in your life who are earlier in their teenage years. Now do you think more parents are starting to wise up to this might not be the best idea for my teenage daughter or even teenagers hearing a more open discussion about this on social media, thanks to people shedding light on it starting to say no.

[Sydney Gilliland]

Yeah, so I've talked a lot about when I was in high school, I was obviously being offered birth control, but also so, so many of my friends had birth control. Even nowadays, like I had dinner with four girls last night and I was the only one who's not on birth control and experiencing my period, like that is an extreme rate. It's almost like it's being mass produced. And like I remember talking to my mom and she was like, and she was like, well I mean a lot of teenagers, they go out and you know, they go and do things that they shouldn't do. And I remember constantly thinking to myself, well, I've never drank before, I've never done drugs, I don't really date or I've never done that. And I'm really curious because my parents have never worried about me doing that either. I was raised in a Christian household with good values. I have a stern father and I'm trying to figure out why my friends think that they can go out and do that, but I don't think I can, right? Like they went out and partied, they would date guys and they would literally say to me, well I can because I'm birth control, so I'm not worried, right? So it was literally like almost like

[Moderator/Host]

a self fulfilling prophecy that way.

[Sydney Gilliland]

I hate to talk about promiscuity with birth control because I know that that's not the reason a lot of women take it. However, it does allow the brain to think that way, right? So when I have a friend who, which did happen, who was on birth control for acne, she ended up dating a lot of guys throughout high school because she could, and she thought she could do so. I would personally like to argue that I think parents, and especially like women who have experienced birth control issues like that today, really need to start putting virtue into their children and moral because I don't, I don't understand what the difference between me and some of those girls were except for the fact that I had good parents. I don't know what their parents situation looked like. And I also understand that it is a blessing to have good parents. And I, and I feel truly sorry for other People who may not experience those types of things. But even schools, what are schools doing? Schools are also talking about birth control. I had a cousin she went to school for, she did a health class and she learned everything about pregnancy. She learned nothing about how to get pregnant, how you get pregnant, nothing about those types of things. She learned nothing about the hormones in like a woman's reproductive system. She was calling me, asking me for advice, and she also knew nothing about virtue. So what do you expect women to do?

[Moderator/Host]

Where do you guys think more women of our generation are going to get those answers? Is it health podcasts? Is it social media? Is it big sisters or cousins?

[Tessa Bedford]

I think it probably is social media. I've been on social media for. I think I maybe got it when I was 16 and it was parent monitored. And then like, you know, then I was 18 and now, I mean, I'm pretty careful on the Internet. But whenever you, you start following like a celebrity online that you like admire or look up to, you're gonna listen to what they say. And I know it's still shoved down people's throats today. I just saw an ad for birth control on TikTok last night and I was like, it's so funny. I'm about to talk about this tomorrow and I'm seeing a TikTok ad telling me to, to take birth control at 10:30pm at night. I'm like, wrong audience. Because it's terrible. And they're on every platform. And when you're young and you're already on social media and somebody is telling you to take this and it's better for you and it's medicine. I think when people hear medicine, they're like, okay, that works. That's good for me, it's medicine. So it's good. It's medicine.

[Moderator/Host]

Are you seeing more content that's anti birth control on social media these days or not enough?

[Berkley Antner]

I think it's not enough. It's somewhat of a mix. I do think that there's more than there has been, which I'm really grateful for. But I do think it also starts with your clan, starts with the people who you're around. It starts with the people who you're friends with, the people who you meet in passing, having even just that networking times. If you're meeting other people and just having the opportunity to let them know in those really gentle, kind ways. Right. It does need to be a negative conversation. Maybe it's your own experience with it, but having that start in a smaller community does make a bigger impact. Like Overall, yes. I think social media, it would be amazing if more people of status, I guess, had the opportunity to give more insight on that. But I do think a lot of it does also stem from.

[Moderator/Host]

Do you guys talk about this with your friends? Are you telling your friends I quit? I feel amazing. I love my life now.

[Ella]

It's like not talked about subject enough. And what I've noticed on social media is the more I look into anti birth control, the more the media is trying to push it on me. More ads pop up, more people who are super for birth control pop up. And I'm like, that's not what I'm looking for here.

[Moderator/Host]

If you could have a message for your friends, your community, that inner circle of the people you spend the most time with for why you quit and why you don't think this is the answer for an empowered, healthy young woman, what would each of you say? I'll start with you, Berkeley.

[Berkley Antner]

It gives your body the opportunity to flourish, gives your mind the opportunity to have balance when you let it do its own progression in the way that it needs to. Sure, there's going to be pain, but pain also isn't anything that Jesus, right? I know that Jesus was not a woman. I know that he did not shed blood in the way that we did, but he did shed blood right on the cross. And so just having that peace of mind that, okay, this period's going to be over, it's going to be done shortly and we'll be moving on. It's so worth to be in your own capacity and your own body's balance rather than having something that you have to take every day, whether it's pill or have to do consecutively if it's a shot or the implant.

[Moderator/Host]

Pain is a gift, which is not often talked about. And it's very controversial to say, but I have a lot of those conversations in the realm of childbirth because I talk a lot about having my daughter last year. And so many of my friends in our little creator world are all becoming moms right now. And even that is viewed as this inconvenience, right? It's an inconvenience that women have to deal with. So outsource it to another woman or there's these crazy birth robot developments happening right now. I'm going to talk about that a little bit in my speech today. But pain is how we unite with God. It's how we experience what he experienced for us. And it sanctifies us in a beautiful way. So it's not something to shy away from. I Love that if I had to

[Tessa Bedford]

tell them like why I would get off of it. I immediately felt more like myself. I had more energy, my skin got way better super fast. And that's a big thing for me, women is insecurity from acne. It just made my acne way worse. Being on birth control, I feel like I have complete control over myself and I have a very regular period as an adult. I know that I have some people that got on it because they didn't have a regular period and they thought that would help. But it's just damaging your body more and it might be scary to take a big step like stop taking something that you've been taking for so long or. Well, my doctor told me to. But it's important that you make a decision based off of your health and if you know that long term it's going to make you feel better and be healthy to stop taking it. I would,

[Sydney Gilliland]

I think for me that I would like to argue that unlike what the world has told us, God did not make a mistake. He didn't mess you up and your pain is not something that he said a whoopsie daisy on. Women have lived thousands of years with solutions and with loving their bodies and thousands of years of others loving their bodies and us producing and us being the best that we can be because God made us so perfectly made and there's nothing on this earth that he hasn't provided a solution for. So I think if you're trying to get off of birth control or you think you want to, there are better ways. And I don't think that your body being in a mistaken position is the answer.

[Ella]

It's a blessing to get your period. It's a blessing to be able to have your body work normally in the way it's supposed to, the way God intended it to work. It's a blessing to be able to bear children. And that's every month is a sign that, that your body is able to do that and it's normal.

[Moderator/Host]

And yeah, I'm so inspired by your guys courage and your transparency in sharing these stories with your friends, but also with everybody else out there. Thank you so, so much for the work that you're doing as TPSA activists but also just as women having honest, vulnerable conversations with each other. I think it's so interesting that we live in a culture that claims it's so pro limit and it claims it's so pro feminist and we have all of these taboo conversations and yet more often than not those taboo conversations get shut down as conspiracy theories or right wing propaganda or crazy stuff all the time. I really think this issue is going to change so many hearts and minds on women's health, on the role of the family, on our faith, in many beautiful ways. And I'm just so grateful there are voices like yours involved in the fight. We have a couple other panels to share with you From Turning Point USA's Women's Leadership Summit, so stay tuned for all of them. And if you liked this content, make sure you subscribe to the channel for free to never miss any of our videos.