PIP: There have been a large number of reports of amenorrhea after oral contraception termination. It may be due to oversuppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis or to direct atrophic effects on the endometrium. Comparative studies were done by means of a laparoscopic examination of the ovaries of 20 women with postpill amenorrhea as compared with normal ovaries. In the women with postpill amenorrhea the ovaries were free from the fimbrial ends of the tubes. They were almond-shaped and were close to the size of the resting ovaries in the control group. The amenorrhea patients' ovaries were of a porcelain white color with no superficial blood vessels. There were no corpora lutea or growing follicles. Ovarian biopsies showed diffuse fibrous stroma, primordial primary follicles, and atrophic follicular cysts. Endometrial biopsy showed characteristic atrophic or resting endometria. None of the findings were pathological, which may explain why most cases of postpill amenorrhea are reversible.