- Women report on social media that they suddenly found their partner unattractive after stopping the pill.
- Gynecologist Dr. Birgit Link confirms that hormonal contraception can influence smell and partner preference.
- Psychotherapist Ben Kneubühler emphasizes that psychological and interpersonal factors play a role.
“Never date a woman who is on the pill.” With these words, a German Tiktoker begins a video that is causing discussions on the platform. His reasoning: “You only know them under hormonal circumstances.” This would influence who women find attractive. It could well be that without the effect of the pill you no longer find your partner so attractive.
Numerous women report that this can actually happen. They share their experiences in the comments. Some even report that their relationship broke up after they stopped taking the pill.
“I was so in love with him – then I stopped taking the pill.”
“I stopped taking the pill during the relationship and felt no physical attraction to him after that. We then separated,” writes one user. Another reports: “I was incredibly in love with him for five years. After I stopped taking the pill, I broke up.”
Many women describe similar experiences. After stopping, they suddenly found their partner less attractive, no longer felt physically attracted to him or even could no longer tolerate his smell.
“The pill can influence how you perceive your partner”
Several experts confirm that hormonal contraception can influence how you perceive your partner. However, there is no scientific evidence that this happens regularly, nor that stopping the pill alone is responsible for the end of a relationship.
According to the specialist in gynecology and obstetrics at the Hirslanden Clinic in the Park, Dr. med. Birgit Link, there is evidence from studies that hormonal contraception can influence smell and partner preference. “Without hormonal contraception, women have an evolutionary tendency to find partners whose immune systems differ from their own attractive.
This perception can change under the influence of the pill, explains Link. Since the pill signals pregnancy to the body, partners who are more similar to their own immune system are sometimes preferred.
In reality, this phenomenon cannot be transferred one-to-one to relationships. «Partnerships and attraction depend on numerous psychosocial factors. Attributing a separation solely to stopping the pill would be too short-sighted.”
Nevertheless, she addresses the topic in her practice. “I make women aware that it can make sense to get to know a new partner without the pill.”
The living situation of women plays an important role
Ben Kneubühler, psychotherapist and head of the Institute for Sexual Education and Sexual Therapy (ISP), classifies the phenomenon in a somewhat more differentiated manner. He refers to the life situation of many women: “The pill is often stopped in certain phases of life and relationships, for example when you want to have children or when your first infatuation has already worn off. This is exactly when a relationship often changes anyway – regardless of contraception.” From his point of view, psychological and interpersonal factors play a role.
Now the question is: Have you had similar experiences? Did you stop taking the pill and then no longer find your partner attractive? Did your partner stop taking the pill and then break up? Tell us your experiences in the form below.
Selina Keller (sec) has been working at 20 Minuten since 2025 and is an editor in the Community & Society department.
