The new contraceptive is slow to gain acceptance in Germany
After the first contraceptive pill gained regulatory approval in the USA in 1960, a similar product was launched on the West German market on 1 June 1961. Meeting with considerable hostility, the new contraceptive was prescribed in small numbers for menstrual disorders or as a contraceptive to women over 30 who already had several children. Three years after its introduction, only one in 300 Germans used the Pill as a means of contraception, and it was not until the late 1960s that taboos surrounding sexuality and contraception had been reduced to the extent that the Pill entered widespread use. A similar product was introduced in East Germany in 1965.
Although the 1970s saw a new generation of doctors establish the Pill as a popular means of contraception, prescribing it to around a third of women of childbearing age, increasing numbers of women later turned against hormonal contraception due to its side effects. The 21st century has seen a significant reduction in the number of women taking the Pill.
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