Between the fall of 1991 and the fall of 1992, 1500 physicians from throughout France followed 5989 women, 13-56 years old, using the combined oral contraceptive (OC) Moneva (30 mcg ethinyl estradiol and 75 mcg of the new generation progestogen, gestodene) for 3-6 months for a total of 29,000 cycles. Moneva was prescribed in 60% of the cases because the women did not tolerate a previous OC. Moneva effectively prevented pregnancy. It reduced the rate of abnormal cycles (5.4% of cycles vs. 0.9% at 3 months and 0.6% at 6 months). Intermenstrual bleeding also decreased in frequency from 13.8% to 6.1% at 6 months. Amenorrhea occurred less often with Moneva (2.8% vs. 1.1% at 3 and 6 months). Moneva also reduced the length of the menstrual period (20.7% of women with long period vs. 3.3% at 6 months) and excessive menstruation (1.4% vs. 0.2% at 6 months). Pain during menstruation, breast tenderness, and secondary effects occurred less frequently as well (37.1% vs. 13.5% at 3 months and 9/7% at 6 months, 13% vs. 7.9% at 6 months, and 15.1% vs. 11.1% at 3 months and 9% at 6 months, respectively). Secondary effects included headaches, nausea, and heavy legs. Moneva did not affect body weight or arterial blood pressure. 95% of women who took Moneva for 6 months were satisfied with it. 83.8% said that they would continue to use it. In conclusion, Moneva is an effective, safe, tolerable, and acceptable OC for women of all ages.