An Australian worker who became a lesbian after going off the pill has revealed she felt “bored” while on birth control and is now like a “horny teenager” with her new girlfriend.
Tessa Bona, 30, from Melbourne, had been on the birth control pill since she was 15 when she decided to stop taking it in 2021 – and in just three weeks she noticed a range of physical and emotional changes.
“The last few years that I’ve been on the pill, I’ve been feeling down,” Tessa told the Kyle and Jackie O Show.
“As soon as I got off that, I felt like a horny teenager. It’s crazy how much it affects us.’
An Australian employee who became a lesbian after going off the pill has revealed that she felt “bored” while on birth control and is now like a “horny teenager” with her new girlfriend (Tessa left and her friend Phoebe right).
“The last few years that I’ve been on the pill, I’ve felt bored,” Tessa told the Kyle and Jackie O Show (Kyle and Jackie pictured).
Tessa explained that while she used to be “100% into men” and wanted the “white picket fence, kids and all that,” she felt “like a different person” after going off the pill.
“My mentality has definitely changed,” she said.
“I suddenly thought women are hot. When I found my current partner, Phoebe, I thought this was definitely something for me.
Tessa added: “Phoebe is endgame for me. I literally can’t see myself with anyone else.
“Thank God I went off the pill.
“I live with my best friend and couldn’t be happier.”
Tessa Bona, 30, from Melbourne, had been on the birth control pill since she was 15 when she decided to stop taking it in 2021 – and in just three weeks she noticed a series of physical and emotional changes (Tessa left, Phoebe Chakar right).
In a previous conversation with FEMAIL, Tessa said she “really feels like a different person in the best way possible” since making the change.
“I was only with men while I was on the pill, so I think the hormonal changes definitely had an impact on that. I can appreciate that men are attractive, but I’m not as sexually attracted to them now as I was when I was around,” Tessa told Chron Australia.
“I also think it has absolutely changed who and what I’m attracted to, within a month of getting off that I was a lot more inquisitive and attracted to women.”
Not only did Tessa notice that she suddenly found herself attracted to women, she also lost weight, lost fluid retention, felt less tired and instead felt more alive and “excited about life again.”
“I almost felt like my emotions weren’t regulating, like I couldn’t feel any high highs or low lows, it was almost numb.”
Tessa said she was “relieved” to stop taking the pill because she “had no idea the effects it was having on her body.”
Tessa said she was “relieved” to stop taking the pill because she “had no idea the effects it was having on her body” (Tessa and Phoebe pictured).
In a viral TikTok video that’s been viewed more than 305,000 times, Tessa’s friend Phoebe said she’s also keen on going on the pill – but expressed concern if it would change who she’s attracted to feels.
“So I’m still on the pill and am now planning to go off it because I won’t get pregnant,” Phoebe said, pointing at Tessa.
‘What happens when I’m no longer attracted to her?’ she said, then Tessa added, ‘Cause that’s some bulls***.’
In a previous conversation with FEMAIL, Tessa said she “really feels like a different person in the best way possible” since making the change (Tessa and Phoebe pictured).
Phoebe asked if anyone else had experienced changes in their sexuality after going off the pill.
Hundreds offered up their stories, and some claimed “the same thing” happened to them.
“I went off birth control and literally became a lesbian,” one woman wrote.
“I was engaged for four years, got off the pill, didn’t like him anymore,” said another.
A third added: “So true! Was with my ex for 8 years (on the pill before I met him) when I went off the pill in January we broke up in July.
But others said they haven’t seen any changes, or at least not many.
“I started dating a girl for the first time! Then I went off birth control and the attraction hasn’t changed, but I went through the same panic,” one woman wrote.
Another said: “I had the opposite with my husband, got off and fell in love with him even more.”
A 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that hormonal birth control “can have critical unintended effects on women’s relationships.”
It followed 118 heterosexual couples who met while the woman was on birth control and found that she felt less attracted to her partner when she went off the pill.
However, the results show that a woman’s attraction to her partner depended on how conventionally good-looking they were.
When they went off birth control, women were still more likely to be attracted to their partner if they “had a relatively more attractive face” than if they weren’t conventionally good-looking by “evolutionary standards.”
Michelle Russell, a Florida graduate student and the study’s lead author, told TIME that if your husband isn’t conventionally attractive and you come off the pill, his attractiveness may bother you more than before.
“Women who choose a partner while on hormonal birth control and then stop using it will prioritize their man’s attractiveness more than if they were still using it,” she said.
She said the change could be due to fluctuating estrogen levels or many hormonal reasons, adding that the research shouldn’t discourage women from taking contraceptives as these are just the results of a finding.
“Any drug you take, people want to be informed consumers. This is just one factor that women should consider when deciding whether or not to use them,” she said.