Men Might Soon Have Their Own Version of ‘The Pill’

It's about time we started carrying our weight

March 27, 2019 9:00 am

Ever sat down and given the logistics of contraception some serious thought? It’s a crazy unfair system. 

Consider the leading contraceptive product for both women and men. Women ingest a pill every single day which might cause nausea, cramps, melasma, or weight gain. Men ejaculate into a condom and might stain their carpets while carrying it to the trash can.

The onus on women is physical, mental and societalthere’s a veritable laundry list of birth control options women are expected to know and consider, from IUDs to patches to implants. Meanwhile, the most effective male method of birth control is vasectomy, a procedure that’s prohibitively expensive for many and routinely lampooned in pop culture

All reasons why we welcome news out of the University of Washington, where 40 healthy men have been testing a male contraceptive pill called 11-beta-MNTDC, and early results show limited side effects. For 28 days, all but 10 of the men (who took placebo) took the progesterone-fueled drug, which successfully lowered sperm-making hormones. Of the 40, six reported headaches, five experienced decreased libido and some men put on weight. All things that could also stem from having a few too many beers.  

In 2011, 45% of American pregnancies were unplanned, and in 2019, that number’s still hovering up at 40%. If men can help lower that burden and ease the potential health and financial stress that stems from an unexpected pregnancy, we’re all for it. The pill wil take years to hit the market, but this is a step in the right direction.  

h/t The Guardian
Image via Unsplash

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