Jun
Articles, Relationships
The Male Contraceptive Pill
Men, it’s almost here: the male contraceptive pill…
Find out how it works, what some men think about it, and then let us know in the comments: would you be open to using it?
FIRST, A LITTLE CONTEXT:
The female contraceptive pill has been available for more than half a century.
Today, a wide range of reliable options to control female fertility are available, including the pill, patches, and intrauterine devices (IUDs).
But this also means that women largely bear the burden of pregnancy prevention. As popular as the female pill has been, it also carries various side effects —essentially using hormones to disrupt a woman’s cycle and prevent her from ovulating.
On the other hand, men have only had two options available: condoms, which are prone to failure under real-life conditions, and vasectomies, which are very expensive and can be irreversible. So is this new contraceptive pill a breakthrough alternative that is both less expensive and still as effective for men?
NOW ALL ABOUT THE MALE PILL…
Found to be 99% effective in preventing pregnancy, the male pill being tested is a non-hormonal drug (called YCT529) that targets a protein called retinoic acid receptor (RAR) alpha.
When administered orally to male mice for four weeks, the chemical in the drug drastically reduced sperm counts and was 99% effective in preventing pregnancy in a mating trial. Four to six weeks after they were taken off the drug, the mice could once more sire pups!
The pill is set to begin its next phase of human trials later this year, with researchers and scientists predicting it will be on the market in less than five years.
SPIT OR SWALLOW?
Now that there’s a real male pill option on the table, many have been wondering whether women will trust men to use them, as well as how the majority of men will feel about shouldering more of the contraceptive burden with their partners.
What do you think gents?
Are you keen on taking the pill every day, without fail?
Would you feel more in control of not getting any surprise “I’m Pregnant” messages?
Let us know in the comments below.
This is quite interesting.
Im willing to see if males are willing to take the same responsibility as females when it comes to preventing pregnancy,
Will they leg or they’ll go extra to be not unplanned dads.
Interesting.
This is quite interesting.
Im willing to see if males are willing to take the same responsibility as females when it comes to preventing pregnancy,
Will they leg or they’ll go to xtra to be not planned dads.
Interesting.
A game changer for us boys! This is a step in the right directions.
I will definitely take this