Marie Stopes was born on October 15, 1880, in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was a child of intellectual privilege who became one of the most controversial and influential figures of the 20th century. A scientist by training and a radical by passion, she advocated for birth control, women’s rights, and sexual health at a time when these topics were considered taboo.
From Fossils to Family Planning
Stopes started her academic journey in science. She earned a degree in botany from University College London in just two years, then completed a doctorate in paleobotany at the University of Munich in 1904. At 24, she became one of Britain’s youngest female doctors of science, and soon after began lecturing in botany at the University of Manchester.
A failed marriage in 1911 to fellow botanist Reginald Ruggles Gates changed everything. The union, which she claimed was unconsummated, left her emotionally shaken but intellectually charged. She turned her focus to sex, marriage, and motherhood, not as an outsider, but as a woman trying to understand the forces that had shaped her own life.
Breaking the Silence
In 1918, Stopes published Married Love, a frank discussion of sex within marriage that shocked polite society and sold out instantly. That same year, she released Wise Parenthood, advocating family planning and highlighting the link between sexual fulfillment and marital harmony.
The books made her a household name and a lightning rod for criticism. The Church, especially Roman Catholics, condemned her. But the public was listening.
Founding a Movement
In 1921, Stopes and her second husband, Humphrey Verdon Roe, opened Britain’s first birth control clinic in Holloway, a working-class area of London. The clinic provided contraceptive advice and education to women, free of charge.
Stopes’ mission was clear: empower women to control their fertility, protect their health, and pursue happier marriages. She also founded the Society for Constructive Birth Control, giving her a national platform from which to speak. Her writing—fierce, persuasive, and deeply personal—reached millions. Her 1923 book, Contraception: Its Theory, History and Practice, became the most comprehensive guide to birth control at the time.
A Complex Legacy
Stopes’ views were not without flaws. She strongly supported eugenics, believing that selective reproduction could improve society. She argued that individuals deemed “inferior,” particularly among the poor, should be discouraged from having children, a belief that taints her legacy today.