Birth Control for Men: Coming Soon?

By Soumya Vemuganti, RH Reality Check. Posted February 10, 2009.

Safe, convenient, reversible contraception allows women and men worldwide to plan their families and ensure that they are ready to nurture and provide for the children they parent. So why are so few male contraceptive methods available?

In America, 62 million women are of childbearing age; worldwide, the number is around 1.5 billion.  In the US, when these women get pregnant, half of their pregnancies will be unplanned and 42% of these end in abortion. Approximately 40% percent of pregnancies worldwide are unintended.  Globally, about half of all abortions are considered unsafe and more than 75% occur in developing countries.  In order to reduce the number of unsafe abortions worldwide, and to equip individuals with tools they need to take control of their reproductive lives, we need to ensure the availability of reversible, effective birth control solutions with minor side effects for both men and women. 

While only two male contraceptive options (vasectomy and condoms) are available, they are both widely used, making it clear that men are willing to accept responsibility for birth control.  In fact, one study assessed the responsiveness of men from four continents and nine countries to the possibility of "male fertility control," and found that on average more than half of those surveyed were willing to use such a method.  The legal responsibility associated with fathering a child is also motivating men to take control of their reproductive fate.   

Around two-thirds of women in their reproductive years are sexually active with no intent of getting pregnant, and a typical woman in America uses contraceptives for around three decades of her life to avoid pregnancy.  And yet the most popular forms of contraceptives -- female hormonal birth control and the condom barrier method -- are not failsafe. One study found that "traditional" usage of these two methods resulted in an 8% and 15% failure rate, respectively.  In another study where pill usage was monitored by both an electronic device and the woman herself, inconsistencies between the two records highlighted the unreliability of daily birth control usage.   The women reported proper pill usage 53-59% of the time, while the device reported an accurate value of 19-33%.  A birth control method that relies on the user to either administer daily dosages or use at the time of need is not foolproof.  

Additionally, current female hormonal contraceptive methods act systemically, and carry with them many side effects, including nausea, headaches, weight gain, depression, loss of libido, as well as menstrual problems.  "New" birth control methods often simply mean a lowered or altered dosage of estrogen and progestins, respectively, or a method, like the NuvaRing, that does not require oral and daily administration.  Given that the female birth control pill was introduced nearly 50 years ago, it is an embarrassment to the scientific community that there remain so few alternatives to hormone-based therapies.

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