Since Tumblr’ing our way onto the World Wide Web almost three weeks ago we’ve received hundreds of questions, dozens of supportive comments, and a handful of really great suggestions. A huge thank you to everyone who sent us a little Tumblr-love or asked a question. While we can’t respond to every question we receive, we’re going to be addressing some of the most common concerns in the days and weeks ahead.

From time to time we’ll be turning the Ask feature off so we can catch up with past questions.  But have no fear; your answer is probably already waiting for you on plannedparenthood.org or our Ask the Experts blog. In fact, before submitting a question on Tumblr, why don’t you give Ask the Experts a try. Just search by keyword. We’re fairly confident you’ll find the answer you’re looking for.  If not, ask away.

-Nathan at PPFA

Someone asked us:

Question: If you are 16 years old, do you need your parent’s permission to go on the pill?

In general, you don’t need your parents’ permission to get a prescription for birth control pills. However, there might be certain places where, for one reason or another, a health care provider will require parental permission or notification before giving you a birth control prescription. If you’re worried about that, you can call your health care provider or your local Planned Parenthood to ask about their policy.

We get that you might not want to talk with your parents about this, but lots of teens find talking with their parents about birth control (and sex!) can be really beneficial — seriously! Your parents might not like the idea of you having sex, but they probably do like the idea of being involved in your life decisions. And becoming sexually active is a pretty big life decision. Learn more about how to talk to your parents about sex.