It is now generally accepted that contraception should be readily available. But have the implications of this new freedom been fully assessed ? Can contraception be reduced to a technical issue ? What do we know about the effects it can have on the couple and on male-female relationships ? What extreme forms of behaviour can it result in ? And, finally, can the various methods of contraception be trusted ? The multiple facets of birth control — social, psychological, legal and ethical, as well as scientific — were the subject of a recent symposium held at the Collège de France.