Hooray! They’ve Invented a Painless, Reversible Vasectomy Gel.

Caveat: So far, it's only been tested on monkeys

February 9, 2017 9:00 am

Men and birth control: yes, we need to take more responsibility.

But hey, we’d love more options. Condoms are fine. Vasectomies are … a big, possibly permanent decision.

Thankfully, a new procedure called Vasalgel may offer a painless but equally effective alternative to vasectomies, cutting out the, uh, cutting part. Instead of severing the vas deferens, a gel is injected that forms a temporary wall (and by temporary, we mean up to 10 years). Change your mind about fertility? Instead of a painful, surgical  reversal, the gel can be flushed out.

The clinical trial on Vasalgel was conducted by members of the California National Primate Research (and published in Basic And Clinical Andrology) and utilized on 16 adult male rhesus monkeys. Their conclusion: “Intravas injection of Vasalgel in sexually mature adult male rhesus monkeys was effective in preventing conception in a free-living, group environment. Complications were few and similar to those associated with traditional vasectomy.”

Up next: more trials to see if the process is reversible and safe for humans. As Mic noted, a like-minded product called RISUG is already being tested (successfully) on men in India.

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