OnlyFacts
How do you make informed choices about hormonal contraception?
If you’ve spent any time online recently, you’ve probably seen someone talking about hormonal contraception.
A TikTok about coming off the pill. A Reddit thread about side effects. An Instagram post about ‘hormone imbalance’. A podcast discussing the contraceptive implant. A friend sharing a story that made them rethink everything they thought they knew.
For many people, conversations about hormonal contraception no longer begin in a GP’s office or a classroom. They begin online or with family and friends.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. More people are sharing experiences, asking questions and talking openly about their health. But it can also make it difficult to know what information to trust.
People are often left trying to navigate a mix of personal stories, medical advice, social media content and conflicting opinions while making decisions about their own bodies.
At the same time, many people tell us they have left healthcare appointments with unanswered questions, struggled to get support with side effects, or felt that their concerns were not taken seriously.
OnlyFacts is a Pillow Talk Scotland project exploring how people make decisions about hormonal contraception, where they get information from, and what support they need to make informed choices.
Join one of our OnlyFacts events
Tell us what you think about hormonal contraception in one of our listening sessions!
Why this project?
Over the years, conversations about hormonal contraception have come up again and again through Pillow Talk Scotland’s workshops, reading groups and community events.
Across our projects and events, people have told us about positive experiences, difficult experiences and everything in between.
They have talked about side effects, changing contraception, feeling overwhelmed by online information, feeling reassured by online information, and trying to work out which sources deserve their trust.
These conversations made us curious.
How do people decide what information to believe? How do stories shared online influence decisions about contraception?
What makes someone trust a healthcare professional, a friend, an influencer or a website? What support do people wish existed?
OnlyFacts was created to explore these questions with the people most affected by them.
Join one of our listening sessions
The first stage of the project is a series of listening sessions taking place across Scotland during 2026.
These are small, informal group conversations where participants can share experiences, questions and ideas in a supportive environment.
We’ll talk about:
- Hormonal contraception, including the pill, implant, hormonal coil, patch and injection
- Information people encounter online and offline
- Trust, misinformation and decision-making
- Experiences of healthcare and support
- What people wish they had known earlier
- What better information and support could look like.
There are no right answers and no expectation that participants are experts. We are interested in lived experience, curiosity and honest conversation.
Who can take part?
The project is open to people aged 18–30 in Scotland who have used hormonal contraception, considered it, stopped using it, or simply have questions about it.
We welcome participants who experience or may experience hormonal contraception, including women, trans men and non-binary people assigned female at birth.
We are particularly interested in hearing from people whose experiences are often underrepresented in conversations about sexual and reproductive health, including disabled people, people from the global majority, people living in rural communities and people facing financial or social barriers.
Travel expenses and access support are available. Just make sure to send your invoices to contact@pillowtalk.scot. If you have any questions, reach out to Iris at the same address.
Help us create community resources… and get paid for it!
The listening sessions are only the beginning.
A group of participants will be invited to take part in a series of paid co-design workshops later in the year, which you can apply to when attending one of our listening sessions.
Together, participants will explore misinformation, media literacy, sexual health and community storytelling. They will help decide what information matters most, what questions need answering and how the project should communicate with other people facing similar decisions.
The workshops will result in a community zine created with participants rather than for them. A zine (pronounced “zeen”) is a self-published, small-circulation booklet or mini-magazine.
Participants selected for the co-design group will receive £400 for taking part across the workshop series. If you have any concerns about how you would like to receive this £400, including any impacts on benefits, tax or immigration status, let us know and we’ll work with you.
No previous creative experience is required.
What will the project produce?
By the end of the project, OnlyFacts will produce:
- A community zine about hormonal contraception, online information and making informed choices which will be distributes across Scotland.
- Recommendations for healthcare professionals and NHS Boards based on participants’ experiences
- A public launch event in 2027.
Everything produced through the project will be shaped by the people who take part.
