Your Guide To Long-Acting Reversible Contraception
Long-Term LARC
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Copper IUD
Effective for: up to 10 years
Effectiveness rate: 99 percent
A copper IUD is a tiny item that your doctor implants in your uterus. Implantation takes only a few minutes. Once in, the IUD triggers a foreign body response in the uterus, which essentially makes the body attack anything that enters the area – such as sperm. One perk of this IUD is that it works right away.
If you do decide that you’d like to have children, your ability to become pregnant should return to whatever is normal for your body immediately after the removal of a copper IUD.
Hormonal IUD
Effective for: 3 to 7 years
Effectiveness rate: 99 percent
A hormonal IUD will also need to be put in by a doctor. It does what the copper one does (i.e. make the uterus attack foreign objects like sperm) as well as release hormones that keep you from getting pregnant. Unlike a copper IUD, it does not work right away – you must wait seven days to see its full effectiveness.
Like the copper IUD, once the hormonal IUD is removed, your ability to become pregnant should resume rather quickly.
Implant
Effective for: up to 3 years
Effectiveness rate: 99 percent
An implant – more specifically an etonogestrel implant – is a tiny object a doctor inserts under the skin of the upper arm. It releases hormones that prevent the release of eggs and the thickening of the cervical mucus – two processes required for pregnancy.
Implants take seven days to become fully effective. One’s ability to conceive returns shortly after the implant is removed (which must also be done by a doctor).
