Just like the title says-- soon there may birth control for men! China is flying ahead working to create an effective yet reversible male birth control. One of their biggest hurdles is funding the project. Drug companies like Wyeth, Schering, and Organon are skeptical: if they provide the money to support further developments of a male contraceptive, will men actually be interested in using them? Due to this slow progress, scientists working in the field predict that it will be atleast 5-10 years before the FDA approves any form of male birth control for distribution.
According the the Male Contraception Coalition (haha... honestly, what a cause), the most recent compounds for male birth control were discovered by the contraceptive side effects of relatively old anti-cancer, high blood pressure, and schizophrenia medications. These active ingredients suppress sperm production and have been isolated and manipulated to create a wide range of birth control options for men. These medications may come in the form of a seasonal shot, subcuntaneous implants, or a daily pill.
Similar to the female birth control pill, the male pill is 100% effective so far... in the men that it works for. An enigma to researchers is the fact that the male pill doesn't even affect the sperm count of about 10-15% of men, mostly Caucasians, thus making it 0% effective for these few.
Onto the side effects. My first thought was greaaat, now men will be just as hormonal as women. But actually, according to drug trials, the only side effects that men on the pill experienced were slight weight gain, maybe a headache here or there, and very rarely, night sweats.
Some predicted results for men jumping onboard the male contraceptive train:
-Higher STD infections due to the decreased motivation for using condoms.
-For once men will have control of the baby situation. They don't want a kid, no problem. Sick of the feel of a condom on their member, no problem. Rich and some girl wants to get knocked up so she can collect buckets of money- definitely not happening.
-Fewer vasectomies (duh)
Is the "Man Pill" a great advancement or just plain demoralizing? You decide!
