Scientists are optimistic about the arrival in the laboratory of a hormonal contraceptive for men which looks promising! Except that this announcement has been made to us since the 80s.
IUD, vaginal ring, contraceptive patch, diaphragm, cervical cap, female condom, oral tablets, intramuscular injections, contraceptive implant: here is the long list of contraceptive methods developed by researchers. Why not redirect all these energies towards the development of male contraception?
Those around me believe that it would be too complicated to control the 100 million sperm produced each day by a man, and that is why contraception relies solely on women. I realize this is false.
The truth is that no one is in a hurry to develop a male contraceptive method.
In an article published by - in 2022, we are told that “researchers have long tried to develop a male equivalent using the same method [que les femmes] and by acting on a male hormone, testosterone. However, an alarm was raised: “these attempts caused undesirable side effects, such as weight gain, episodes of depression and an increase in cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of heart disease”.
Sound familiar, ladies? The side effects of female contraception are similar: weight gain, depression and “increased risk of blood clots”. Many of you tore your shirts when the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine had the possible side effect of blood clots. Not many people have had the same indignation for women who have been taking the pill since the age of 14.
On the show Discoveryendocrinologist Régine Sitruk-Ware notes that, for a long time, “the industry was not interested […] thinking that men would not use a contraceptive method, that it was women who managed them because they were the ones who suffered the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy.
In a passage on the show Discussion: the state of contraception with Pénélope McQuade in April 2022, the full professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal in the department of physiology Michèle Brochu points to one of the main reasons for this delay, funding. “Companies already sell contraceptives for women and it works well, so what is the advantage for them to invest in this? » . According to Ms. Brochu, “it will not be in the next five years”.
The contraceptive pill has long been the image of women’s freedom.
The contraceptive pill, first used illegally by women in 1960 and then legalized in 1969, offered women unprecedented control over their fertility. What more could they ask for?
These women did not have the luxury of waiting for researchers to perfect a method with minimal side effects. Between douching with bleach or a pill full of hormones, the choice was simple.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want men to become lab rats and take underdeveloped contraceptives. What I want is for them to help deconstruct this mentality and in turn demand a contraceptive method, since pharmaceutical companies seem to be waiting for their go to unlock the financing.
In a world where men bear the burden of contraception, it is women who suffer the consequences if their partner does not take it adequately. Would I have the confidence to put the possibility of pregnancy in the hands of the other? Honestly, I have no idea.
The good news is that I probably won’t have the opportunity to hit myself with this dilemma. If the trend continues, I will probably be menopausal when male contraception hits the market.
