Can thyroid problems be linked to birth control?

My niece recently got diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. My sister and three female cousins have also been diagnosed with it as well. The thing is that the only thing they have in common is blood relation, but not a single relative before my generation has ever had thyroid problems. None of my aunts where ever on birth control nor was my mother. So it got me thinking. So many people I know from my generation and younger are also developing thyroid problems. Sure guys can get it as well but I rarely hear of it. So I started to wonder if maybe the connection was birth control. I’m not saying that it is the only cause but maybe if you are genetically prone to developing it, that birth control may speed up its development because it changes your hormones. I decided to look it up and I found a thread about someone asking about the link between Yaz and thyroid problems.
It got a lot or responses from people stating it either made their condition worse when they changed to yaz, or they developed thyroid problems shortly after taking yaz.
In playing with mother nature are we shooting ourselves in the foot?