Do Women Need Periods?

By Lara Briden
September 14, 2022

“To say that women don’t need ovulation except to make a baby would be like saying that men don’t need testosterone except to make a baby!

It’s the cycle and hormones that are beneficial, not the bleed. The bleed is only an inevitable outcome of an ovulatory cycle because, in general, it’s not possible to ovulate but then not go on to have a bleed (except in the case of pregnancy, hysterectomy, or the hormonal IUD.)

Natural cycles are possible with the hormonal IUD

The hormonal IUD (Mirena) is unique in that, unlike all other types of hormonal birth control, it does not suppress ovulation.

In other words, the hormonal IUD permits ovulatory cycling and the production of estrogen and progesterone; it only suppresses the bleed. This is in stark contrast to the pill and Nuvaring, which suppress ovulatory cycling but induce a withdrawal bleed.

With the pill, women bleed but don’t ovulate.

With the hormonal IUD, women can ovulate but not bleed.”