Interesting news

[ultimatepsi]

Male hormonal birth control has a successful trial

Given the societal implications of the pill, I figure this (if it pans out) could also have major social and societal effects. What do you all think?

Comments

[fiddledragon]

Awesome!

My only objection to it is that if it catches on widely, we'll have added testosterone along with the estrogen and other medical byproducts already messing up the ecosystem.

[sirroxton]

My understanding is that this approach may dramatically increase the risk of prostate cancer.

Ignoring that, I see this as addressing evangelical concerns about birth control. The prospect of a growing convention in the evangelical community of shifting control away from the female partner, however, is disconcerting.

[mariaklob]

Unless men start using this to avoid getting their baby-hungry wives pregnant, it's not shifting control away from women. If anything, it frees us from the damnable burden of going on a prescription every time some man decides he doesn't want a condom on.

It'll be interesting to see what the long-term health effects are. I've gotten a large series of blood tests and dire warnings every time I've considered the Pill.

[sirroxton]

Let me be clear. If this flies, I'm using it.

My sister had a lot of trouble with birth control. This would have helped her too.

The problem is that the existence of male birth control may make the Pill seem more objectionable to evangelicals than it does now. And then you get this kind of logic:

"If we wanted to be on birth control, we would use the male injections, but since he doesn't want to, I guess *we* don't want to." It sounds silly, but people really do think that way.

[mariaklob]

*boggles* Ow.

My inner trained Catholic is screaming that sabotaging sperm is just as bad as preventing ovulation. But I can see a dyed-in-the-wool evangelical skewing everything manwards again.

[mariaklob]

I'm psyched about this. There's a fairly large array of conditions and/or medications a woman can have that preclude hormonal birth control. So you're down to barriers or...whatever they develop now. Hooray for more options!

[sirroxton]

One more thing a lot of people don't realize -- testosterone injections are rather painful.

[mariaklob]

Man, an hour or so of pain every month? What a terrible price to pay for activities involving the reproductive system! Lord knows we women...oh, wait.

*shuts up and fishes her bra out of the burning trash can*

I mean no insult, but that snark was so irresistible! This injection 'solution' is probably not nearly as comfortable or promising as it first sounds. But I'm glad to hear they're working on it.

[ultimatepsi]

I know that some women prefer birth control shots (which already exist for women) to the pill. My guess is that pain or fear of shots alone isn't likely to kill the option. Similarly, a risk of reduced sexual desire is already a side effect of female contraceptives, and it doesn't stop them from being in wide spread use.

Unless, of course, men are significantly more opposed to these downsides than women. Two possible reason why that might happen spring to mind. One is that men aren't as directly faced with the consequences of pregnancy as women; a man could walk away from fathering a child (although the law might have something to say about that). The other is that men have gotten used to not having to deal with side effect of birth control (except in the moment of a sex act with barrier methods) and may be unwilling to give up that ease. I don't think either of these are sufficiently wide spread to prevent adoption.

[sirroxton]

Recognizing your broader point, let me clarify. Testosterone actually hurts, not just the injection itself.

[jalawingedone]

OK, so if it works, it's wonderful, and should be encouraged and will almost certainly lead to fewer unwanted pregnancies, abortions, abandoned kids, and unhappy marriages. However, I see a couple of problems of perception that might make it hard to get folks to accept it. The first is that some people are terrified of shots, and cognitive dissonance usually means that the easier to imagine fear is greater than the vague fear. So shot trumps unwanted fatherhood. The second thing is that at least now there is a low chance side effect of reduced sexual desire. Even if it were even a rumor, that rumor would be enough to keep a number of sexually promiscuous men from even considering it. But the idea of single guys who like sex and want to stay single using this would solve a lot of problems. I'm just worried that it's going to be a while before it lives up to its potential.

[ultimatepsi]

My reply to sirroxton also responds to this comment.