The average person who menstruates spends six years of their life having periods. For many, that’s way too long. Which is why many people are opting to ditch their period — for good.

According to a report on NPR, more people in their 20s and 30s are choosing birth control methods that permanently suppress a period.

With traditional birth control methods, you take a hormone pill for 21 days a month to stop the usual cycle. Then, for a week you take a sugar pill to have what looks like a period. But it isn’t a real period and it isn’t necessary if you’re using hormonal birth control.

Dr. Elizabeth Micks, who runs an OB-GYN clinic at the University of Washington in Seattle explains that there is no medical need to have a period. In fact, the reason for having a period for decades is more of a historical throwback than anything.

One of the original creators of “the pill” was Catholic and hoped that the church would be more accepting of birth control if women were still having periods. But the pope never came around to the concept of the pill. And once people realized that they could opt out of having fake periods, they went for it.

Now people who menstruate have a variety of options to stop having fake periods including the hormonal IUD, an arm implant and a hormone shot. Oral contraceptives can be used continuously, by skipping the week of sugar pills. And they can opt to replace the ring rather than taking it out for a period week.

If you do opt to stop your period, you will be in good company. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report that the use of IUD and implants has increased five-fold over the past decade.

_{[Image via Shutterstock]}