I used to be on patches (until they became hard to get), not pills, so I can’t really compare, but I have observed that since I started injectable E, the effectiveness has increased noticeably.
That said, at least here in Queensland, the availability of prescriptions for injectable esters other than valerate here is next to impossible, and even then convincing your doctor to prescribe valerate is really hard.
I also agree.
While I couldn’t care less (it’s their body and bodily autonomy is super important to me), I’d be a little hurt if they didn’t tell me about it.
In that case I’d be more interested in talking to my partner to try and understand why they felt that they couldn’t talk to me about it and needed to keep it a secret.