Would Men Use a Birth Control Pill?

Some women rely on men to open jars, put the toilet seat down and fix things around the house. Not much has changed in that respect in the last two generations or so.

Within the next 10 to 12 years, new methods of birth control will mean that condoms and vasectomies could become a thing of the past, at least for men in monogamous relationships. Scientists have been considering creating a male birth control pill since the 1970s. But the main obstacle that they have face has been biological. When research into male fertility first began, scientists working on it were still influenced by the female contraceptive pill, which works by increasing oestrogen levels and preventing eggs from being released each month. As a result of this, scientists started out by trying to mimic female fertility, but for men, by adjusting the level of testosterone in order to block sperm production. As it turned out, this was easier said than done. Finding a good hormone combination took much longer than scientists had expected. Some researchers even turned away from the use of hormones altogether, which provided a further setback.

The second problem involves a lack of financial support. Elaine Lissner, president of the Male Contraception Information Project, said that public and private attitudes were at the heart of the problem. She said that up until 10 or 15 years ago men were saying: "You 'ain't touching my private parts". Pharmaceutical companies, in turn, saw no reason to bother spending money on a product the public was not interested in.

However, Lissner and others have said that men's attitudes have been slowly changing, especially as Generation X-ers came face to face with the reality of fatherhood. According to Cord Brinkman, a single 23-year-old from Kansas City, MO, he believes the male contraceptive pill is a great idea. He said: "Men are legally and financially responsible for any children they father, but there are few options available for men who wish to avoid that."

Those in favour of male contraception go on to cite a survey that was published in the journal Human Reproduction in December 2004. The study collected date from 9,000 men in eight different countries. The study found that 55 percent of those men would be interested in hormonally based birth control methods. Lissner is hopeful that this majority will be enough to convince governments to fund research.

However, if the people continue to believe that male contraception is not worth funding, then it may never be resolved. Lissner said: ""The science is there, but it's like you have a bunch of race horses at the starting gate and you're just feeding them a bit of hay. You can't expect them to get anywhere on that." In the United States, public interest may not back up the majority of men who would like to see a male contraceptive pill created, as mentioned in Human Reproduction. A new MSN-Zogby poll revealed that only 13 percent of American men would use a male birth control pill. Among both genders, 36 percent of American adults stated that their current form of birth control was fine. Approximately one-third said that they would wait up to a year before trying any new form of birth control.

Even though Cord Brinkman was excited by the idea of using a male birth control pill in future, he said that most of his friends had not thought about it and did not seem to care either. That seems to reflect a lot of men's views on the male birth control pill. Perhaps the next generation will show more enthusiasm for this form of birth control.

Source:

http://health.msn.com/centers/mensexualhealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100157849