The story of male contraception has become somewhat pantomime-esque in recent years. Will they? Won’t they? Now you see it…now you don’t. We follow the tale eagerly awaiting the final act in which men become equally as responsible for contraception as women.
The latest part of the entire saga is that a new medical trial has found that the male contraceptive injection is almost as effective as the female contraceptive pill. Yep, you read that right.
‘Why then…’ I hear you ask, ‘is it not available yet?’ Well, the truth is that the technology for male contraceptives has not only existed but been more or less ready to roll out for quite some time. The main problem in getting it onto the market has been getting drug companies to back it financially. As Professor John Guillebaud, Emeritus Professor of Family Planning and Reproductive Health at UCL, explained to me back in 2013 ‘drug companies put more money into researching statins and diabetes and new cancer drugs. [Those drugs] make the money.’
The most recent study into male contraception, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, gave 350 men injections of hormones which were shown to dramatically lower their sperm count, effectively temporarily ‘switching off’ the male reproductive system.
The drug – which consists of a combination of hormones - was found to be nearly 96% effective.
However, the study was halted early. A twist in the tale! Why? Apparently the drugs caused some ‘unpleasant side effects’. Can you imagine? The female pill is basically side-effect free isn’t it…what must that be like?
The side effects were judged to be ‘unacceptable’ by those conducting the trial. ‘What on earth did those side effects include?’ you might be wondering. Well, the ranged from depression to acne and increased libido which caused 20 men to drop out of the study and ultimately led to the trial reaching a rather premature climax (sorry).
All jokes aside, this is important. It’s a sign that there is serious progress being made on contraception. However, it does seriously beg the question: why are the serious emotional and physical side effects that many women experience whilst taking hormonal contraception deemed to be acceptable?
Only four pregnancies occurred among partners of the 274 men, that’s a similar level of risk as experienced with the female contraceptive pill and a lower failure rate than condoms.
However, the study stopped enrolling participants in 2011 due to the side-effects the men were experiencing. Out of 1,491 incidents of side effects, 39% were found to be unrelated to the injection.
At the end of the trial, despite the side effects they experienced, three quarters of the men said that they would be willing to use the contraceptive jab. The scientists who conducted the study are hopeful that they can reduce the side effects.
Watch this space for a very happy ending soon (sorry again). Just putting it out there but in the last six decades since the female pill was invented we’ve also developed microwaves, mobile phones and the Internet. It’s time for a new sexual revolution.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.