Fascinating - something we already knew intuitively

Women who take the contraceptive pill may be choosing the wrong men, according to a U.K. study.

The pill may be a "liberator" to the 12 million American women who take it, but it also may be responsible for skewing their hormones and their sense of scent causing them to choose less then perfect mates, researchers from the University of Liverpool say.

The study found that the pill can alter the type of male scent that women find most attractive, which may in turn affect the kind of men they choose as partners. It suggests that the popular form of contraception could have implications for fertility and relationship breakdowns.

The findings add to growing evidence that the hormones in the pill influence the way that women assess male sexual attractiveness.

Commenting on the study, which was published in the August issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society, the researchers said that the pill may disrupt women’s ability to judge the genetic compatibility of men by means of their smell.

They said that this might not only impact fertility and miscarriage risk, but could even contribute to the end of relationships as women who stop or start taking the pill may no longer find their boyfriend or husband so attractive.