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Updated: Ian Somerhalder Says He Threw Out Nikki Reed’s Birth Control Pills When They Decided to Have Kids

Update: After Ian Somerhalder told a story on a podcast about in which he describes getting rid of his wife's birth control, Nikki Reed has taken to Twitter, responding to the backlash the couple's interview has received. "WOMEN'S RIGHTS MATTER, so please don't use false narratives to highlight issues that are truly important!" she writes. "We should be talking about these things, but using a funny interview between married ppl & twisting it to perpetuate gossip is irresponsible."

Original report:

Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed, like countless couples before them, decided it was time to become parents when they were riding a vacation high. Yes, the origin of Bodhi Soleil, the couple’s nearly 2-month-old daughter, can be traced to a trip to Barcelona where Somerhalder took (incredibly questionable) action and dumped his wife’s birth control down the toilet.

“We decided that we wanted to have children together, and it was just time,” The Vampire Diaries star explained in an appearance on the podcast Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy, according to The Cut. “But unbeknownst to poor Nikki, she didn’t realize that I was going to go in her purse and take out her birth control. By the way, it was the beginning of the pack, so I had to pop all those suckers out. It is a lot of work, especially after a little bit of Sangria.”

Although it sounds like Somerhalder flushed Reed’s pills after they had made the decision together to try for a family, the idea of anyone disposing of their partner's birth control without their partner's knowledge is more than a little unsettling. On top of the obvious consent issue, it's important to remember that hormonal birth control is used in the treatment of many conditions that have nothing to do with preventing pregnancy (including PCOS and endometriosis). So going off it isn't a decision to be taken lightly—and it's definitely one you should be making yourself.

The new parents have been vocal about their commitment to their growing family, explaining they would be taking a “month of silence” after their daughter’s birth to enjoy their new baby. Reed explained their first month together would involve “just the three of us, no visitors, and we’re turning off our phones too, so there’s no expectation for us to communicate. Otherwise, every five minutes it would be, ‘How are you feeling? Can we have a picture?’ You don’t get those first 30 days back, and we want to be fully present.”

Sure, makes sense. But, you know, maybe ask before disposing of nearly a month’s worth of birth control pills that aren’t yours?

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