Oral contraceptives

Oral contraceptives are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control.

Female
Two types of female oral contraceptive pill are widely available:
 * The combined oral contraceptive pill contains oestrogen and a progestogen, and is taken once per day.
 * The progestogen only pill contains only a progestogen, and is also taken once per day.

Other types of female oral contraceptive are experimental or only available in limited areas:
 * Mifepristone is an antiprogestogen which has been used as a daily oral contraceptive in investigational clinical trials.
 * Ormeloxifene (also known as Centchroman) is a selective oestrogen receptor modulator which is taken one to two times per week. Ormeloxifene is approved as an oral contraceptive only in India.

Male

 * Male oral contraceptives do not currently exist, although several possibilities are in various stages of research and development.