Should men take the Pill?

Just how close are we to a male contraceptive pill, 
and would you trust your man to take it anyway? We look into the debate...

No
Since the advent of the pill in the 1960s, the female contraceptive market has developed to include a wealth of choice when it comes to preventing pregnancy. But for men who don’t want to resort to the irreversible method of vasectomy, there’s currently only the condom.

So why is there still no male version of the contraceptive pill? ‘It’s easier to stop one egg a month for a woman than to halt the huge numbers of sperm – they’re produced at the rate 
of a thousand a second,’ explains Professor John Guillebaud, one of the UK’s leading contraception experts.

One type of male contraception in the pipeline is hormonal, which switches off sperm by blocking the hormones that produce it. ‘The problem is that by stopping sperm-producing hormones like testosterone, men could suffer side-effects such as losing their facial hair, drive (including sex drive) and erections,’ says Professor Guillebaud. ‘It’s vital for the contraceptive to contain the right amount of synthetic hormones to replace the testosterone and still give men their male characteristics, but each man is different, as is the balance of hormones he requires. Give a man too much testosterone and he may become violent, for example. So that’s the problem with the hormonal approach.’

Even if there was a male pill readily available on the market tomorrow, would you trust your partner to take it? ‘Men lack women’s motivation to take a male pill as they won’t be the ones carrying the baby,’ says Professor Guillebaud.

Some critics are worried that the introduction of a male pill could increase the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and AIDS by reducing the role of the condom. ‘A condom is the only thing that protects against STIs so even if you’re using other forms of contraception you’d still need to use one,’ warns Rebecca Findlay, from the Family Planning Association.

Yes
‘Men are concerned about taking control 
of their fertility,’ says the Family Planning Association’s Rebecca Findlay. ‘The launch of the male pill could be the sexual revolution for men in the same way it was for women back in the 1960s.’ It means couples can share the birth control responsibility, especially as some women struggle to get on with certain methods of contraception.

Despite preconceptions, an international survey reported in the journal Human Reproduction revealed that two thirds of men said they would want to take a male contraceptive pill. ‘This is very positive and suggests there is a market for the male pill,’ says Professor Guillebaud. ‘If you don’t trust your man to take it, give it to him in the morning at breakfast and make sure he swallows it in your presence. Even better, make sure the contraceptive is released into his bloodstream automatically via an implant fitted in his arm.’

Findlay reckons we do men a big disservice because we think they can’t be trusted and won’t remember to take the pill. ‘But men can be just as responsible and trustworthy as women,’ she says. ‘Women will need to do a massive mental sea change about contraception and evaluate their attitudes, possibly more than men will.’

Not all male contraceptives in development involve altering hormone levels or have to be taken in the long-term. A non-hormonal pill is currently being investigated at King’s College London. It produces a ‘dry’ ejaculation, yet doesn’t change the pleasure factor. A man could take it as a one-off pill before having intercourse, preventing him from impregnating a woman, but within a few hours his fertility would return to normal. It could also be available as an implant.

‘This is the most promising pill being investigated,’ says Professor Guillebaud, who is involved in the research. ‘It’s still 
in the initial stages, and will need to go through numerous tests. It could take 10 or even 20 years to reach the market, sooner 
if we can attract more funding and a bigger team to study it.’

Healthy verdict
It seems researchers have reached an exciting breakthrough where the male pill is concerned. Although it might not benefit your partner, for your sons and grandsons it will bring more control over fertility and more choice for both men and women, and that can only be a good thing.
Words: Jo Wheatley