The birth control pill turned the big five-zero last year, recognizing a huge milestone in reproductive freedom for women. For the past half century, women have been able to decide when, and if, they get pregnant – a choice that has empowered women to advance themselves both in the job market and in the home. The pill allows women to make conscious choices about family planning without having to rely on shoddy guesswork or condom use.
Not many people disagree that female contraceptives have proven a blessing for millions of women. But after 50 years, where’s the male contraceptive pill?
If Seattle researchers have anything to say about it, male hormonal contraception is just around the corner.
According to Dr. Andrea Coviello from the Population Center for Research in Reproduction at the University of Washington, the “…technology is there. We know how it would work.” The issue, she says, is a lack of funding.
Male Hormonal Contraceptives, commonly referred to as MHCs, could be administered in the form of a daily pill, cream, implants or injections. With female contraceptives, hormones like progestin and estrogen are released to prevent the release of an egg from the ovaries. MHCs work in a similar fashion; hormones like testosterone and progestin are released to prevent the forming of sperm.
Men produce about 1,000 sperm per second – making shutting off sperm production far more difficult than simply halting the release of one little egg. Nevertheless, researchers estimate that male contraceptives should hit the market within the next five to seven years.
A safe, effective and reversible form of male birth control could mean big news for both single men and couples. For the first time in marital history, couples could choose who takes the pill or gets the birth control shot. The responsibility of preventing pregnancy wouldn’t have to always fall on the woman’s shoulders, but rather could be a common goal that both partners work to achieve. Paired with condom use, male contraceptives could effectively prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections – a benefit that would promote safer sex in the singles crowd.
As with all new medications, male contraceptives bring about questions and concerns. The word “hormone” carries a negative connotation for some men – guys may associate the idea of ingesting extra hormones with hot flashes, mood swings and breast growth. Though acne and weight gain were associated with male contraceptives when tested in the 1990s, researchers say they are working toward the most effective and most low-cost form of contraception with the fewest side effects.
According to the World Health Organization, which has tested male contraceptives on men from all over the world, recruiting men for research has not been a challenge in the slightest. Though the WHO believes that most men would welcome male contraception, it’s hard to predict exactly how men will receive this new form of pregnancy prevention. Male contraceptives force men to take more responsibility in preventing pregnancy – which could prove beneficial or disastrous depending on the person.
Though this form of birth control puts the man in charge, skeptics wonder if the responsibility of taking the pills or getting the shot will ultimately fall back on the woman. Will nagging their husbands to take their birth control pill be just another burden that wives have to bear? Will making a doctor’s appointment for the birth control shot be another chore on the “Honey-Do” list? The question isn’t so much if men will someday soon have the power to effectively prevent pregnancy, but rather if they want that responsibility.
Men are perfectly capable of assuming some control when it comes to family planning. The notion that men shouldn’t have to think about birth control is ridiculous, not to mention dangerous. Skeptics may doubt that men will want to take on the responsibility of pregnancy prevention, but men should have the same ability to make choices about family planning as women do.
It’s sexist to assume that men aren’t capable of their own reproductive rights. Don’t get me wrong, there are some male Neanderthals out there that will procreate without a care in the world. But you know what? There are some pretty brainless women out there that will do the same – and then get pregnant because they can’t get their act together and take birth control.
As a society, we complain that women have to take care of their own birth control, because a man just isn’t capable of such a crucial task. We hear this all the time, and it puts an unfair stigma on men. Male birth control requires a change in thinking, for both genders.
The pill changed the lives of millions of women for the better by allowing women to take charge of their reproductive habits. By the turn of the next decade, we may finally achieve equal reproductive rights for both men and women. With that kind of opportunity, everybody will have the power to make smart decisions about planning for the future.