I went to the Planned Parenthood web site,
Planned Parenthood Birth Control
to see the effectiveness of various birth control methods. The effectiveness is based on "normal" use by a couple for a year, from Planned Parenthood data. I calculated the 5 year pregnancy rates based on the 1 year rates. Here is a table of the effectiveness for some of the methods: Method % Pregnancies per year % per 5 years ---------------------- ---------------------- -------------- Implant 1% 5% IUD 1% 5% Vaginal Ring 7% 30% Patch 7% 30% Pill 7% 30% Condom (Male) 13% 50% Diaphram/Cervical Cap 17% 61% Condom (Female) 21% 69% Explanation, example the Male Condom: Out of 100 couples using the male condom for one year, 13 women will become pregnant. Out of 100 couples using the male condom for five years, there will be 50 pregnancies. (Some of the women may become pregnant more than once.) This means that 50 women out of 100 will become pregnant if they have sex with condoms for 5 years. Those odds are the same as flipping a coin! With the IUD there is a 1 in 20 chance of getting pregnant within 5 years, much better than condoms or the diaphram.