Condom was the only choice for men in reversible birth control for ages. Since the 1960’s, when female birth control pill has been invented, women seemed to have more control over contraception than men. It seems that the situation is going to change anytime soon because various new reversible birth control methods have been found for men. Question is, whether men are going to use their new options in birth control or not.
A thirty-year-old Michael said that he was happy to hear that men are given a new option of contraception but he also added that he would not even consider taking a hormonal form of birth control. And many men are very anxious about possible side effects of hormones, since they are aware of women’s experience with hormonal contraception in the past. At the moment, no registered substances of hormonal or non-hormonal male contraception are available in the market. Scientists have developed the first hormonal birth control method for men in the 90’s. Even though, it seemed to be a huge revolution in the history of human contraception, no registered form of this type of contraception is available in the market yet.
New method of male contraception
This hormonal method of contraception for men is a combined form of an implant and injection. An implant contains testosterone, a male hormone, and has to be inserted under the skin and changed every 4 months. Additional injections of progestin, a female hormone, should be made 3 times a month.
This method switches off sperm production reversibly but additional amount of testosterone should be added to keep male functions and libido at the normal state. A lot of clinical trials have to be passed yet, but yet hormonal male contraception, either injectable or implant showed no significant side effects, apart from minor headaches, increased nocturnal perspiration and mood swings. It seems that this is good news, and soon patches, creams or even birth control pill might be available.
However, even though this method was 99.9 % effective in birth control, it is still not available in the market due to side effects and negative male opinion towards hormonal substances of contraception.
There were several articles about male contraception in the news recently. It seems that two separate drugs were developed with totally different types of action. One of them, called Adjudin, is still in preclinical stage. At the moment this drug in the injectable form is being tested on rats in laboratories. So far it has shown high efficiency, total reversibility and no side effects.
Adjudin
Adjudin stops germ cells from developing into sperm after injecting the substance into the bellies of male rats. This contraceptive showed to be effective in birth control. Fertility returned after 20 weeks. And even though this drug is far from the use in humans, men have significant hope for the new contraceptive option to be available.
Another recent drug that scientists are even happier about, since it has been already undergoing clinical trials, is a non-hormonal form of male contraception. British scientists developed this new drug after noticing that patients treated with drugs against schizophrenia or hypertension tended to have no ejaculation.
A new male birth control pill contains a hormone-free substance that influences contraction of the muscles that are responsible for ejaculation but does not affect orgasm sensation. Therefore sperm does not ejaculate but a man can still experience orgasm and involve himself into a normal sexual intercourse.
This new way of male contraception is absolutely revolutionary, since it does not affect sperm production. It contains no hormones. And it is a totally reversible form of male contraception. The pill has to be taken two hours prior to sexual intercourse, it results in so called “dry ejaculation” and fertility is back again within half a day.
Side effects of male contraceptive
Clinical trials are already being made, showing that no side effects have been found so far. Researchers say that based on many factors this pill could be marketed within five years. However, some are concerned about men’s reactions towards this product. Some men might have problems with the drug because they might feel like losing their virility. Time will reveal, which of the methods is really worth trust but it is already pleasing that men might soon have several new option in birth control .
