Brazilian pop star Anitta is talking about how she decided to ditch birth control after experiencing debilitating symptoms.
“Birth control was not natural for me. I felt it was unfair that only women have to deal with it. Hormones made life crazy for me. I couldn’t be myself,” Anitta explained on a recent episode of Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast.
“My body didn’t respond well to hormonal birth control,” she added.
Anitta told Shetty that she suffered a myriad of side effects that didn’t outweigh the benefits of taking birth control. Her symptoms included “hair loss, crazy skin, mood swings, depression and no energy close to my period,” she said. “It was a rollercoaster.”
The musician stopped taking the medication but noted that it “took more than a year to cleanse from birth control” and stop feeling such symptoms.
“When I started living a more natural life, including a mostly vegan diet, I felt better,” she said of how she managed her health journey after choosing to ditch the contraceptive method.
“I managed two years [as vegan] and now I’m back, but 30 percent less [meat]. If everyone makes small changes, it’s already a big shift for the universe.”
Anitta went on to share her opinion that birth control “should be joint responsibility,” surmising that sexual politics would be much different if men were capable of getting pregnant.
“If men got pregnant, things would be very different,” she asserted. “People don’t realize the side effects of birth control on mood, performance and overall well-being.”
Anitta also revealed that she had a copper intrauterine device (IUD), a T-shaped plastic device wrapped in copper that’s inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy — which she believes made her endometriosis worse.
“I had a copper IUD, which was terrible for my endometriosis and caused a lot of bleeding,” she said. “Now, I use condoms. They exist for a reason.”
While she isn’t looking to become a mother in the immediate future, Anitta said she hopes to have children one day.
“I pray to the universe and plan when it’s time for me to have children,” she told Shetty. “I want to be ready and have a good partner.”
Anitta’s no-holds-barred “On Purpose” chat also included discussions about the assault she experienced as a teenager, losing 300,000 Instagram followers for referencing her father’s African religion with fans and how she is healing from generational trauma, among other revelations.
