Contraceptive Pill For Men? Scientists Moving Closer To Creating Birth Control For Males

[Stellar]

New male birth control pill moves a step closer - but will you take it?

Is it time for men to take responsibility?
As it stands, the only way for men to take control of their own fertility is to get a vasectomy - a sometimes irreversible procedure which carries certain dangers.

But last year, researchers from Indonesia’s Airlangga University claimed to have invented a male contraceptive pill they claim has a 99% effectiveness rate.
Now it looks as though their compound is in trials and could be rolled out by the end of the year.

This week, Scientists at the American Chemical Society balanced the playing field with an announcement suggesting that whilst it still isn't perfect, they are getting very close.

According to The Times, the academics at Minnesota University said:

"It would have to be soluble so it could be taken by mouth. It would start working fairly quickly and it wouldn’t diminish libido. It would be safe even if taken for decades.

More: joe.ie/fitness-health

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

1. Thank you, god.

Is it possible that it could lead to more premiscuous sex? More HPV, etc.. Conventional wisdoms says "Yes."

[gollygee]

2. That's the argument always given against women's reproductive choices

So I imagine it'll be an argument here too.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

6. I posed it as a question because I don't know if it matters. People don't care when they're drunk

I lean toward no significant change. Not epidemic.

[Warpy]

8. Naw, it won't have any effects like that

It will increase unwanted pregnancy and abortion simply because males will lie about taking it.

C'mon, guys, you know you will.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

11. Equal opportunity lol

[phylny]

27. Here's my thought, and what we always taught our daughters.

Use a condom and use a secondary method of birth control. Be in charge of your reproductive lives. Whether a guy is lying or not, you have to be in charge of your own body.

Pregnancy isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. Condoms, especially for a situation where you're not in a committed relationships, are mandatory. If they guy doesn't want to wear one, walk away.

Having said that, I'm always amazed at how many young mothers and fathers I know who have unprotected sex and then are stunned that they become pregnant. Seriously, it's not that difficult to avoid.

[NickB79]

35. It would be a godsend to many married men

My wife and I struggle with birth control, because the side effects of most hormonal methods are undesirable for her, sterilization before we've decided we don't want another child is still out, and condoms have their own issues. We're looking at IUD's, but she's heard a few bad stories about those from coworkers, so she's a bit hesitant to try one. She is rightfully upset that she has to take as much responsibility in family planning as she does, simply for the fact my only options are quite limited. As it is, the Nuva-Ring is the only thing we've found that works reasonably well, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

If the side effects were minimal as the OP's article suggests, I'd be on male BC pills in an instant. Unfortunately, it sounds like they won't be on the market for another decade or so, meaning we won't be requiring them by then

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Question To Women Here

I've been married for more than 3.5 decades and we're WAY past pregnancy concerns, but how many women would believe a guy who says he's "on the pill"?

I'm a guy, and i don't think we can be trusted.

[snooper2]

4. How many women do you trust who say, "I'm on the pill"

Even if yes just pull out anyway!

Better safe than sorry!

[ProfessorGAC]

7. If The Guy Pulls a "Hit The Trail"

It's the woman who has to face the decision alone. Guy has no consequences if he says "don't worry i take the male pill".

And, come on: you know there are guys out there who are far more "hound" than others. I wouldn't trust most of them to park my car, let alone potentially life altering decisions.

[NobodyHere]

29. No consequences except for child support for 18 years

[ProfessorGAC]

36. If They Find Him

[Chan790]

10. Virtually none of them.

It's not that I am a distrustful person...okay, yes I am...but I am the only person who has complete control over my reproductive decisions in advance of conception and I really, really, really hate children.

[JonathanRackham]

14. Men would lie to get laid?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo...............................

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. Through lack of alternatives, men have been forced to trust women for decades.

Your fertility is your own responsibility, subject to the tools available.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. Then We Disagree

If sex is that important, get snipped. Otherwise, don't be a hound. (Not accusing you of that, Jeff.)

[Gormy Cuss]

28. It doesn't matter.

The important improvement would be that men have another way to take control of their own reproductive choices.

[Xithras]

41. Only an idiot "trusts" another person with their reproductive choices.

Women shouldn't take the pill to make their men happy, but to make themselves happy. Men shouldn't take their pill to make their women happy, but to make themselves happy.

Whether you are a man or a woman, it is your responsibility to protect YOURSELF against unwanted reproduction. Nobody should ever leave that in the hands of their partners.

Over the course of my life, I've slept with a number of women to claimed to be on the pill. I used condoms anyway. Maybe they were protected and safe, maybe they weren't. It didn't matter. It was MY responsibility to make sure I didn't contribute to any unplanned baby-making.

A male birth control pill simply provides an alternate way for men to do that.

[Orrex]

5. I can just about guarantee that this will be a failure

When a conception results from a man who's supposed to be on the pill, you can bet that he'll claim that the pill was faulty.

You can tell me that I'm sexist, but you can't tell me that I'm wrong.

[mac56]

9. "Minnesota University"?

Buzzzz... wrong.... thanks for playing our game.

[Chan790]

12. I'm skeptical of this...but I do know that Parsemus is getting close with its Vasalgel project.

It's not a pill...it's an injection into the vas deferens that works like a term-limited (8-10 year), reversable (via a second injection) vasectomy.

I've applied to be in the human testing group...if I'm not chosen, I'll probably opt for the surgery. I've only put-off dealing with my fertility to this point because I really want to be involved in this project...they know the injection works, it's the reversablity that has been problematic in large animal testing, including baboons and dogs.

[JonathanRackham]

13. Condoms worked fine for us.

No problems. Don't need no extra pills in our bodies.

[Stellar]

18. Your wife is there for that purpose, right? Put all the extra pills in her body. nt

[JonathanRackham]

33. I'm not sure what you're referring to?

[linuxman]

15. The doublethink in this thread is hilarious.

[One_Life_To_Give]

16. Wouldn't a photo of Sarah Palin be cheaper? nt

[B Calm]

17. Wondering what side effects it will have. .

[Donald Ian Rankin]

20. What does 99% effective mean?

Is it saying that one time in a hundred sex will result in pregnancy?

If so, that's better than nothing, but still not great, especially compared with some of the things available for women.

And, unlike condoms, it won't stop STDs.

[Stellar]

22. I think it's better now then it was when I first used them at 98%. But...

I guess it's like playing the lottery, if your chances for winning the lottery was 99%...would you play the lottery. You're almost guaranteed to win. Nothing is 100% (I guess so that they won't be sued).

Before the pill it was like playing Russian roulette, 50/50.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

31. Wait, what?

A better analogy would be "if your chance of getting killed playing Russian Roulette was 1 in 100, would you play (say) twice a week every week?"

[Thor_MN]

34. In general, when talking birth control, effective means "per year"

A 1% failure rate means that in a year's time, there is a 1% chance of a pregnancy, with correct, consistent use of the method.

Which is is dwarfed by incorrect, inconsistent use.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. The problems have long been political and business - not scientific.

The scientific basis and proof of principle for male contraception using hormones to suppress sperm production is now well established by academic researchers in various studies mostly supported by the WHO (and also CONRAD and Population Council) over the last 3 decades. The efficacy issues are very clear - it is highly effective, comparable to any hormonal contraceptive in women.
The safety issues are OK so far but would require large scale studies to fully evaluate (a catch-22 as long as there is no commercial product).

The goal would be primarily for men in stable relationships (like a reversible vasectomy) but to a lesser extent for use by single (or even married) men who wish to control their fertility. However academic researchers cannot produce a commercial product and that requires pharmaceutical company involvement.
It is now clear that no pharma are interested to do this. The last companies departed the field in the last few years. Whether the growing pharma industry in India and China may think differently is one hope...

The reasons are primarily commercial and, to at most a minor extent, political. At various times companies have said any one of the following — frankly I don't know which is the real reason, but Boards of pharma companies are not in favour even when there are a few proponent scientists in the companies—
too high commercial risk (too low cost and income to compete with low cost oral contraceptives; high litigation risk to treat healthy men, especially in the USA); there is no interest or demand from men (company and independent surveys dispute this); women may not trust their men to use contraceptives (this has been disproven by the companies and by women in stable relationships who rely on vasectomy - why would men trust women who say they take pills?)

[Iggo]

23. If it was real and it worked, fucks to the yes I'd take it.

[Stellar]

24. No more child support payments?

[Iggo]

25. LOL...we see the same future, it seems.

[Stellar]

26. +1 As my husband would say...

[NobodyHere]

30. +1

[KamaAina]

32. And you know damn well insurance will cover it

without raising a stink.

[davidn3600]

38. A condom isn't birth control?

[Stellar]

39. How about that!

[Behind the Aegis]

40. My husband will be so excited. Oh wait, since I am man, do I take it too?!

This could be a really good thing, but like the female version, unless your partner is long-known, a condom is the way to go. Pills like this don't protect against STDs. Now, THAT would be the ultimate birth control, one that also protected from STDs!

[Stellar]

42. Yep, you've ALWAYS needed both.

The pill to avert pregnancy, and the condom to prevent STDs.