Birth control pill for men?
Categories: Pregnancy & Birth, Places To Go, Safety
A few years ago, a good friend of mine had a pregnancy scare. He had been dating a girl for some time when she announced that she was pregnant with his child. He was scared and angry. Scared because he wasn't ready to be a father. Angry because she had assured him that she was taking birth control pills when in fact, she wasn't. She admitted that she wanted a baby and she wanted it with him.
He and I talked on the phone every day for weeks, him freaking out, me trying to assure him it would all work out somehow. He lamented the fact that there is no birth control pill for men. If such a pill existed, he said, there would be fewer 'accidental' pregnancies.
Someday soon, we may be able to test that theory. At the Future of Male Contraception conference in Seattle this week, several new birth control options for men were discussed, including two different pills. One is a testosterone-like pill called a "selective androgen receptor modulator," or SARM. It's currently being tested on humans as an osteoporosis and muscle-wasting treatment but a similar pill has also been shown to reduce sperm counts in rabbits.
The other pill is non-hormonal and has been found to prevent monkey sperm from reaching their destination. The pill is made up of a compound called CDB-4022, and the best part is that in the monkey trials, fertility returned completely sixteen weeks after stopping treatment. However, the safety of this particular pill has not been tested yet.
I know my friend would have been the first in line to take a birth control pill, but would other men? Elaine Lissner, director of the nonprofit Male Contraception Information Project, thinks a lot of them would. "You'll never have all men interested", she said. "But attitudes have really changed - studies consistently show a majority of men would consider it."
By the way, it turns out that my friend's girlfriend wasn't actually pregnant. They broke up soon after that incident and he is now happily married to someone else and expecting his first child.
He and I talked on the phone every day for weeks, him freaking out, me trying to assure him it would all work out somehow. He lamented the fact that there is no birth control pill for men. If such a pill existed, he said, there would be fewer 'accidental' pregnancies.
Someday soon, we may be able to test that theory. At the Future of Male Contraception conference in Seattle this week, several new birth control options for men were discussed, including two different pills. One is a testosterone-like pill called a "selective androgen receptor modulator," or SARM. It's currently being tested on humans as an osteoporosis and muscle-wasting treatment but a similar pill has also been shown to reduce sperm counts in rabbits.
The other pill is non-hormonal and has been found to prevent monkey sperm from reaching their destination. The pill is made up of a compound called CDB-4022, and the best part is that in the monkey trials, fertility returned completely sixteen weeks after stopping treatment. However, the safety of this particular pill has not been tested yet.
I know my friend would have been the first in line to take a birth control pill, but would other men? Elaine Lissner, director of the nonprofit Male Contraception Information Project, thinks a lot of them would. "You'll never have all men interested", she said. "But attitudes have really changed - studies consistently show a majority of men would consider it."
By the way, it turns out that my friend's girlfriend wasn't actually pregnant. They broke up soon after that incident and he is now happily married to someone else and expecting his first child.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Roger Sinasohn 10-03-2007 @ 4:29PM
"...there is no birth control pill for men." There is, actually, and has been for a long time. Only, it's not in pill form. It's called a condom and it works and if you don't want to be a father, you put one on when you have sex. Period. Because, as we all know, birth control pills are not 100% perfect: http://www.parentdish.com/2007/09/30/twins-arent-twins/
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Roger Sinasohn 10-03-2007 @ 4:30PM
Ack. Forgot to add that I would rather just put on a condom than risk the potential side effects of a drug.
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Jennifer 10-03-2007 @ 4:46PM
Roger- Condoms can fail too...less of a risk yes but still they can break or slip off.
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Amanda 10-03-2007 @ 4:53PM
My husband and I have a two and a half year old daughter now because the condom slipped off!
thanks for trying to shirk your birth control duties, but, I still think a pill for men would be perfect! why should women shoulder all that responsibility?
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Carrie 10-04-2007 @ 12:28AM
About stinkin' time. Why is it that insurance companies pay for Viagra but not birth control? It's about time men helped out in the BC department.
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Roger Sinasohn 10-03-2007 @ 5:50PM
Amanda, I'm not trying to shirk anything... in the 18 years or so that my wife and I have been together, she has never used any kind of birth control. My point is that men DO need to take responsibility and that the lack of a male birth control pill does not absolve them of that. As I said, "if you don't want to be a FATHER, you put one on when you have sex." (emphasis added)
True, condoms are not 100% perfect, but they're close. I'm not convinced that drugs are a better option.
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Heather 10-03-2007 @ 6:15PM
But it is ok for women to have to deal with the side effects of drugs? It is about time they came up for something other then the condom for men.
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Sandyone 10-03-2007 @ 7:51PM
Now, there's a plan...screw up guys' bodies as much as we've screwed up women's.
I'd never even thought about the side effects of the pill, but when we were discussing marriage, my now-husband said there was no way that I was going on that crap. This was before we had any convictions about the morality of artificial birth control. The pill is just not good medicine and I suspect that a lot fewer men will subject themselves to the nasty side effects that we women seem so willing to endure.
There's always that much-maligned and misunderstood Natural Family Planning. It works to conceive a child, it works to prevent conception and it even helps a couple's communication!
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angie 10-03-2007 @ 7:52PM
I have to agree with Roger. My husband and I have always used condoms, and had 2 planned babies. I started the pill last winter and am now expecting baby number 3. And yes, I know how to use the pill(I thought).
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Alice 10-03-2007 @ 11:48PM
OMG, I so do not feel bad for a guy who was stupid enough to rely on his girlfriend taking the pill. Honestly, personal responsibility anyone??
I totally agree with Roger. Use a condom regardless of what your partner says they are using.
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Dina 10-04-2007 @ 6:32AM
I don't necessarily think the pill is a *better* option for men, but at least it's another option. I personally hate hormonal BC after having endured the horrible mood swings, nausea, and other fun things that can accompany it, but it's different for every person. If a man is more willing to take the pill (and endure the side effects) than use a condom, then it's cool he's got that choice. And hey, maybe then he'll understand what it is that women go through! :-)
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Anna V. 10-04-2007 @ 7:05AM
I think condoms are a good form of BC, even though I got pregnant using one (while I was on the Pill to boot! Long story for another time). However, they can become quite costly if a couple has an active sex life. The Pill, whether it is for a man or a woman, can be a little more convienent in this situation. The key would be to make sure both are covered equally by insurance if applicable (Tricare covers mine).
The more options couples have, the better!
For the curious, they do sell jumbo boxes of condoms at BJ's & Costco. : )
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Sandyone 10-04-2007 @ 7:29AM
Carrie, the reason insurance covers Viagra and not birth control (though I know that some do cover bc) is because Viagra fixes something that's broken and birth control breaks something that is working perfectly fine.
Anyone who wants to insist that their man help out in the birth control department really ought to look into NFP. Quit complaining about how "he's not taking any of the responsibility" and start sharing it with him.
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mosarah 10-04-2007 @ 9:10AM
....Hmm.. personally I think even if my fiance went on such a pill I would continue to take the pill myself. But then I don't have problems with taking the pill, it actually FIXES some medical problems for me... though the first brand of pill I went on screwed me up pretty bad, the brand I'm on now is great.
Though I have little sympathy for a guy who naiively assumes the woman is "taking care of it".. like some other posters said, it's about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY! I take the pill now because I need to, but before that, it was condoms every time, without question or exception.
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april 10-04-2007 @ 11:51AM
First off, I agree about the personal responsibility issue. However, if your partner insists that they are on reliable BC and then you insist on still using a condom it could likely bring up some relationship trust issues.
Obviously his girlfriend was lying to him, so there were issues anyway. If she was devious enough to lie to him about BC to try to get pregnant, would you put it past her to prick a hole in a condom?
Also, Rodger may not mind condoms, but I know many men (and women) feel that they hinder the sexual experience.
All that said, personally I am not the biggest fan of hormonal BC either; but It's always nice to have options. For the man who whats to take personal responsibility for his own fertility, a BC pill would be welcome option for some.
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april 10-04-2007 @ 11:57AM
Sorry if this is a double post!
First off, I agree about the personal responsibility issue. However, if your partner insists that they are on reliable BC and then you insist on still using a condom it could likely bring up some relationship trust issues.
Obviously his girlfriend was lying to him, so there were issues anyway. If she was devious enough to lie to him about BC to try to get pregnant, would you put it past her to prick a hole in a condom?
Also, Rodger may not mind condoms, but I know many men (and women) feel that they hinder the sexual experience.
All that said, personally I am not the biggest fan of hormonal BC either; but It's always nice to have options. For the man who whats to take personal responsibility for his own fertility, a BC pill would be welcome option for some.
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acm 10-04-2007 @ 12:51PM
wow, "natural family planning" is what underlies the hefty size of the average Catholic family -- not only are most women not that regular, but women can spontaneously ovulate during sex, even if not otherwise due to. there are plenty of barrier methods that can do the job.
the nasty little secret of female pills is that they sap libido; most women taking them have been doing so for so long that they don't even realize that until they go off in order to conceive. no idea whether male pills would have effects similar to that and other woes ("selective" is a good thing for agonists and antagonists), but I sympathize with those who are cautious.
of course, just about anybody reading here is operating in the realm of parenthood, planned or otherwise, so I guess we all know the challenges of trying to keep things in check! :)
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Sandyone 10-04-2007 @ 4:03PM
acm, you don't know what you're talking about.
Bunnies ovulate when they copulate. Humans ovulate on a "schedule". That schedule is different for each woman and can be different for the same woman from month to month. NFP is a scientifically developed method of reading the body's signals and determining what those signals mean in terms of fertility (and overall health...an added bonus!). Ovulation doesn't ever happen spontaneously.
There are precious few women out there who are "regular". You don't have to be regular to use NFP. NFP works during breastfeeding, peri-menopause, menopause and all of the other times of a woman's life.
The "average Catholic family size" is not nearly as hefty as you would like to believe. A very small percentage of Catholics actually use NFP and the large families among them point more to spiritual growth than to "NFP failure". One of the "dangers" of using NFP is that couples can come to realize the true blessing that children are. Who doesn't want blessings?
Your info on the libido sapping aspect of hormonal birth control is right on, though.
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aprilw 10-08-2007 @ 9:42AM
To "april": I wasn't planning on commenting on this post, but I just wanted to say several months ago it was pointed out to me via email that someone else has been fairly regulalry been posting as "april" as well (my user name has been april for a while). I am sure it is just a coincidence, and am not complaining...
Just to let you know that I have now changed my name to "aprilw". Hopefully people won't confuse us anymore now. (I've had emails from friends who also read here saying "I never knew that about you!" and I had to say "That's because it isn't me!!!!":)) Didn't know how else to contact you other than on here, but just wanted to let you know.
To the Parentdish staff: How do user names on here work anyway? I had that name for about a year before that poster registered. Does that mean we can go on and change our name to match anyone else on here we want? I realise there are maybe too many people registered for programmes to be picky about names, but it is a little worrying isn't it? Anyone could sign on as "Sandy Maple" or "Roger Sinasohn" and unless you looked at their links you'd never know...
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DLM 10-09-2007 @ 7:53AM
Ahh, yes, Natural Family Planning... the birth control method preferred by churches everywhere because you have to pray you don't get pregnant while using it. I have several friends who have several lovely, and unplanned, children conceived while using Natural Family Planning. I'd rather take the drugs with the *nasty* side effects of shorter, lighter periods and no cramps.
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