Let's Talk About Birth Control

Aweh, guys!

Ahem… this is not at all embarrassing to write about (yeah right). This is a normal practice for many men and women, and it is a part of the human health discussion. If you are moving to the Netherlands and are a lady on the pill, for whatever reason, I suggest giving this a read to better understand what to expect (from my perspective)… if you are my parents, please avert your eyes.

So, I had brought over about 3 months of the pill (triphasil) from South Africa and I was anxious about getting a refill. We still don’t have medical aid nor a doctor so I thought this would be tricky. I went to places I thought might have it like Kruidvat and Etos because they have the morning afterpill on the shelves asking if they have “ovulatie beheermiddels”. They did not and I don’t think I can ever return to those specific stores. Luckily, I read online that you can take your existing prescription to a pharmacy and that would be all you needed. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a prescription, you will need to get one from your doctor in the Netherlands, so I suggest getting it in your country if you can just to save on admin.

I was a little sceptical but decided to give it a try. Fortunately, I still had the electronic prescription that my doctor emailed me with my last refill. I also had the box it came in which I highly recommend you take with you.

I went to the pharmacy (apotheek) and spoke to the lady behind the counter. I showed her my prescription and explained that I was new here from South Africa and I needed to get my pill. She said that was fine and I told her that I was using triphasil and she had never heard of it. She looked at the box I provided and was able to find something similar without the placebos called Trygynon.

Now since we aren’t on medical aid, I braced myself for the bill. I got a three month supply for €16.45 which is really affordable. If you have medical aid, you can add an additional payment that will cover birth control.

Hopefully this helps someone and hopefully my parents don’t read this.