Today the only methods available to men are withdrawal, condoms and vasectomy. But a fourth option is on the horizon.
Contraceptive injections, pills and patches are in development and projected to be on the market by 2015.
The Center for Research in Reproduction and Contraception at the University of Washington in Seattle is currently experimenting with an injected micro-capsule that gradually releases testosterone over three months, resulting in sperm levels dropping to zero. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is testing a combination of progestin and androgen implants that would be safe, inexpensive and entirely reversible.
Even more interestingly, the Shepherd Medical Company in Vancouver announced the development of an Intra Vas Device (IVD) that inserts, via a small hole in the scrotum, a tiny silicone plug that blocks the tube of sperm travel.
But don’t despair—these contraceptives will not take away your “manhood.” The goal is to ensure a reversible yet effective and safe shutdown of sperm production.
A recent study of 9,000 men in nine countries across the globe found that men generally express willingness to use new male contraceptives. Such gentlemanly courtesy would be a welcome relief to women who have been dependent on the Pill (and subject to its side effects, which include weight gain and mood swings) since the 1960s.
And, according to Dr. Louann Brizendine, author of the 2006 book “The Female Brain” men think about sex every 52 seconds compared to once a day for women. If Dr. Brizendine is right, it’s high time that men started taking responsibility for their own hearty appetites.
