Woman, 45, Took Birth Control Shots for 21 Years. Now, She’s Been Diagnosed with 4 Brain Tumors

"I'd take the periods any day now," Kerry Sharples said

NEED TO KNOW

• A 45-year-old woman said she “regrets” getting birth control shots after she was diagnosed with four brain tumors
• Doctors said the meningiomas could be linked to the woman using the contraceptive injections — which she had been receiving regularly for 21 years, in order to avoid getting monthly periods
• “I’d take the periods any day now,” Kerry Sharples said

A woman said she “regrets” ever getting birth control shots after she was diagnosed with four brain tumors, which her doctors said could be linked. 

Kerry Sharples told doctors during a routine visit in 2025 that she was experiencing pulsing in her right ear, according to Kennedy News.

Sharples, 45, said her doctor ordered some scans and bloodwork as a precaution, and she was later hit with shocking news: she had four benign brain tumors, also known as meningiomas. (The largest of the tumors was behind her right eye and measured about 1.4 inches.)

The woman said it was at that point that her doctor advised her to stop taking her hormonal birth control shots — which she had been receiving regularly for 21 years, in order to avoid getting monthly periods.

"I regret taking these injections,” Sharples said. “It sounds so silly now, that I just didn't want the periods and stayed on it. And now I've got four brain tumors. I'd take the periods any day now. It's crazy.”

According to Sharples, who is a mom of two, her doctor explained to her after she learned of her brain tumors that there was relatively new evidence suggesting a small link between the contraceptive shots and her diagnosis. 

The woman said that, had she known of a link, however small, between the shots and meningiomas beforehand, she likely would have made a different decision about her personal health plan.

"I know a lot of ladies had certain side effects, but as far as I was concerned, I was fine. I thought, 'Why change something that wasn't broken?' Had they mentioned [the brain tumors], it would've been different,” Sharples, of Cheshire, England, said.

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"I was a bit naive to [not] look into it," she added. "But you just presume you're getting it from the doctors, so you're okay."

Sharples did not reveal the specific name of the birth control injection she had been using.

Looking back, Sharples said she was in “complete shock” over the diagnosis. She added that she still doesn’t know whether she’s fully come to terms with it.

"I'm very much a crack on and get on with it [kind of person,] but sometimes it does get to you,” she said.

Sharples — who now fears that she might have gone blind, or died, had her doctor not ordered the tests — added of her brain tumors: "I'm hoping they shrink, or just don't grow, now I'm off [the hormones]."

Sharples hopes that by sharing her story, more women will be made aware of the potential risks of synthetic progesterone-based birth control shots.

“I don't want to scare people [or] to put the fear of God into them, but they do need to be aware of what [the shots] can cause," she said.

"Just re-think and do your research. There are other options out there,” the woman added.

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According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), data shows there is a low overall clinical risk of developing meningioma while taking the shots.

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