Else A., 82
pensioner

Else A., 82
pensioner

Else (born 1935) lives with her husband (born 1930) near Weilburg.

When Else grew up, there was no sexual education in schools or families in her home village. The young people of the village educated themselves. After the birth of her two sons, Else went to see a gynecologist for the first time, at the age of 29. He diagnosed an abdominal pregnancy. After that, she got one ovary removed. At the age of 34, she got a prescription for the pill to treat and lessen her early emerging symptoms of the menopause. She tolerated the pill well. She cannot recall the brand.

Around the time when the pill hit the market in West Germany in 1961, the thalidomide scandal (in German: “Contergan Skandal”) was uncovered independently from this event. Thalidomide was a sleep-inducing medication and sedative. In many cases it caused malformations and organ damage in newborns. Due to the time overlap the pill first got under suspicion for causing those malformations, which led to women being skeptical towards the pill at first.