Despite a marked decline in fertility, a pronounced increase in contraceptive prevalence, and a wide expansion of family planning activities, a large proportion of birth limiters in Iran and Turkey rely on withdrawal to avoid pregnancy. Adopting a comparative approach, the study used data from the 2000 Iran Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the 2003 Turkey DHS to examine the determinants of withdrawal use among two representative samples of birth limiters. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to estimate the likelihood of using withdrawal rather than modern contraceptives. Among other findings, higher education and economic status were strongly associated with the greater likelihood of using withdrawal rather than modern contraceptives among birth limiters in Iran, while an inverse association was found in Turkey. Moreover, women’s age was positively associated with the likelihood of using withdrawal rather than modern methods, whereas number of living children was inversely related with the likelihood of using withdrawal. The results of this study have implications for Iran’s and Turkey’s family planning and reproductive health programs, particularly the need to work further toward encouraging the use of modern effective methods among groups that have high rates of withdrawal use.