Coming Soon: Male Contraceptives

Here’s everything you need to know to discover if male birth control is for you.

Men will soon have a daily contraceptive pill option, similar to women’s birth control pill sin that they will have to be taken on a regular schedule.  Options like a gel or a patch to be applied to the skin are being explored as well, as are monthly or quarterly injections.  One possible future for male contraception involves an implant placed under the skin and replaced on a yearly basis.  All these options represent the first time a reversible, non-intrusive male contraceptive option has ever been available.  All male birth control options until now have always been irreversible and involving surgery.

Most male birth control that is currently being developed involves testosterone being released in the body, lowering sperm count.  It is not supposed to alter sexual ability or performance, and anticipated side effects are projected to be minor.

Many men, however, are resistant to the idea, being used to it being something of a women’s business for so long.  Some men are scared of the idea of altering their sperm count, fearing results could be permanent.  Researchers allayed these fear, claiming that similar concerns had been voiced in the 1960’s when the female birth control pill was introduced, and turned out to be baseless.

We may be entering a new era of social responsibility, where birth control is no longer solely the woman’s problem, and can now be a burden shared jointly by couples.