Do you “Pull Out” during sex?

I’ve been spending way too much time thinking about hormonal birth control.

The more I think about it, the more weirded out I get about pumping my body full of synthetic lady-juices. Wouldn’t it be so nice to just let nature run its course?  But we all know what nature intends to happen 9 months later, and I am in no way signing up for that.

“What about if I just pull out?” wonders my condom-hating, sex-loving boyfriend, who, to his credit, handles my birth-control-fueled rages and sob-fests better than I ever could have expected. “You can trust me,” he pleads.

The interesting thing about pulling out, otherwise known as withdrawal before ejaculation, is about as reliable as a condom—both when used perfectly and when used what researchers call “typically”. Used perfectly, about 2% of couples will still get pregnant with a condom. Used perfectly, about 4% of couples who pull out will find themselves knocked up, according to a June 2009 study.

But when used “typically”—i.e., the condom slips, breaks, you forget it until halfway to orgasm, he doesn’t quite pull out quickly enough, he climaxes outside but just barely—condoms and withdrawal have 17% and 18% failure rates, respectively. I was willing to take my risks with just a condom, but “Trust me” has never been a viable form of birth control in my book. What happens on the night we’ve had a few too many drinks, or it just feels too good to stop, or orgasm sneaks up on us. There are a few too many “what ifs” to simply trust our bodies. But should I trust the science?

What do you think? Do you use the withdrawal method? How does it work for you?