A woman who always identified as straight claims her sexuality has changed since coming off the contraceptive pill.
Tessa Bona first started taking the pill as a teenager in order to help regulate her periods, and remained on it for the next 15 years.
The now 30-year-old said she was never sexually attracted to the same sex and had only ever dated men.
But after breaking up with her long-term boyfriend last year, Tessa, from Melbourne, decided it was the perfect time to have a break from taking the pill each day.
This is when she says “everything changed” – and within three weeks, she felt like a “completely different person”.
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“I had never given women a go romantically, I never really thought that was for me,” Tessa told news.com.au.
“In saying that, I always could appreciate a woman’s beauty.
“But once I got off the pill, everything changed.”
Tessa said the change she felt in herself was almost instantaneous. Within a month, she was dating girls – something she never imagined she would do.
“Within three weeks, I felt like an entirely different person,” she explained.
“I had so much more energy, I was excited about life. On top of this, my sexuality was changing.
“For the first time in my life, I became really sexually attracted to women. I told my friends that I think I was ready to start dating girls.
“All of a sudden, men were just not attractive to me.”
Tessa isn’t alone in her experience, with new research emerging that suggests the birth control pill – which has been around since the 1960s – could be influencing who women choose as their partners.
Naturopath and women’s health specialist, Katherine Maslen, told said that changing sexualities when coming off the pill could be attributed to the role the medicine plays in a person’s mental health.
“There is research to suggest that the pill can change your choices of partner, but it is really interesting to change sex preferences,” the author and host of The Shift podcast said.
“Studies have shown that women are attracted to the odor of men who are less genetically similar to them, and that when we are taking the pill this shifts towards partners that are more similar to us.”
She added there could be a number of factors at play, including how the “pill affects mental health issues.,
“Now that this is lifted she could feel more free to explore other things,” Katherine said.
The hormone specialist also revealed she has witnessed many of her patients undergo massive shifts in their personalities after coming off the pill.
“I have observed massive personality changes in some of my patients that stop their hormonal contraceptives, with many of them reporting that they ‘feel like a different person’,” she said.
“This isn’t really surprising since there are millions of estrogen and progesterone receptors in the brain.
“Oral contraceptives essentially turn off the natural production of estrogen and progesterone by inhibiting ovulation, and when this hormone replacement is stopped women can experience changes in their emotional state, often for the better.”
Tessa said she became interested to coming off the pill after seeing a viral TikTok video about another woman’s experience.
“She was feeling really down, fatigued all the time, and just wasn’t excited about life anymore. I really connected with what she was saying,” Tessa explained.
“I was feeling that exact same way. I didn’t have high highs, or low lows. I felt like I was in limbo.
“I’m usually a really happy person and very upbeat, but over the last three years leading up to turning 30, things had changed.
“So when I found myself single last year, it seemed like a really great opportunity to try life without the pill.”
After going on a few dates with women, she met her now partner Phoebe Chakar, 24, after they were introduced through a mutual friend.
Tessa said it felt like “love at first sight” – and now six months on, she says they’re both “happier than ever”.
“Phoebe is the absolute love of my life, I couldn’t be happier,” she said.
“It’s a totally different dynamic to being with a man. She is my best friend, and I love every second I spend with her.
“It breaks my heart to think this might never have happened if I was still on the pill.
“I’d still consider myself a little bit bisexual, but much more attracted to women. I hardly look at men anymore.
“It’s actually hilarious. The sexual attraction to guys is pretty much all gone.”
While Tessa always thought that getting married and having children with a man was something she wanted, she now says her desires for the future have changed too.
“When I was on the pill, and in relationships with men, I thought I wanted to settle down, have kids and get married,” she explained.
“But since coming off the pill, it’s like my brain is so much clearer. That’s not what I want at all.
“I feel like the pill can turn you into a dull person, if you’ve been on it too long. I think every woman should take a break from it, if they want to, and see how they feel.
“I do believe that hormone levels can play a role in who we’re attracted to.”