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I know about the recent work on the so-called "male pill," which, IIRC, is currently more like a periodic injection. Is there something about female systems that lends itself to hormone-based contraception? Was it male chauvinism back in the day? Are the testes simply so powerful that the amount of hormones required to halt sperm production has significant side effects?
I think they have a lot of problems with the production of the drug and so forth but that they also encounter a lot of resistance because so many men feel like their manhood is attached to their sperm-creating ability and are hesitant to do anything that will impact said sperm-creating ability.Quote:
Originally posted by garygnu
Quite - may as well diss the male sex plenty and ignore the fact that, oh, say, there is already an existing state in which women of childbearing age are temporarily infertile, and female hormonal contraception basically mimics that; and there isn't a corresponding condition for men.
A men's-rights forum I occasionally drop in on, by the way, is all for the idea of male BCM, and thinks that women will feel extremely threatened by it.
I figured it had something to do with the cycle.Quote:
Originally posted by Malacandra
If I were a woman, I don't think I'd trust a man if he claimed to on such a medication.Quote:
A men's-rights forum I occasionally drop in on, by the way, is all for the idea of male BCM, and thinks that women will feel extremely threatened by it.
It's more to do with mimicking pregnancy, when ovulation shuts down naturally for the duration.
As to trust... *shrug*... men are expected to trust women. But I think it might be of equal concern to women who wanted to get pregnant and suspected their partners were on the mPill and lying about it.
As has already been said, women are mostly infertile - basically the pill just extends that infertility a few more days out of our cycle.
But think of it: each month, we have one, maybe two eggs that need to be stopped from ovulating, stopped from making it to the uterus, prevented from implanting OR kicked out of the uterus entirely. That's not many targets, and many ways in which we can get rid of the risk of pregnancy.
Men, on the other hand...geesh, y'all make 20 million of those little dudes each DAY. It's a constant process, too, some are always in various stages of "ripeness", so there's no equivalent infertile time of the month like women have. And there aren't that many options for dealing with them, either. I suppose you could try to prevent ejaculation, or make the sperm infertile or get rid of the sperm entirely.
The most common experimental approach has been to fiddle with the hormones, and it's a fine line between rendering a man infertile and making him into a chemical eunuch. Sure, you might not get a chick pregnant, but have fun with the loss of facial hair and raising of your voice, boyo.
I wonder why they can't come up with something that just kills the sperm temporarily (like a few days, perhaps). My wife insists that I wear condoms because we don't want a fourth child, which I agree with, but I loathe having to wear condoms as a married man.
She suggested I get snipped but I uh, am not man enough for that.
So a male pill would get a thumbs up from me!
As for the trust thing...I suspect part of it too is that if the man is shooting blanks, he doesn't have to worry about knocking up his secretary and having his wife find out about it.
Well, considering that men who have had a vasectomy need to wait at minimum - MINIMUM - two weeks to be sure they're shooting blanks, I'm not sure a temporary infertility pill is practical. Sperm stick to the vas deferens, the tubes leading from the testicles to the urethra, and they can live in there for quite some time before they're knocked off and ejaculated.Quote:
Originally posted by Phalanx
Condom-wearing married men can dream, can't they?Quote:
Originally posted by WhyNot
Or they can buy their wives a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Condom-free sex 20-25 days a month! :lol:Quote:
Originally posted by Phalanx
I have read that some of the problems with developing a male birth control pill involve the fact that the testosterone that allows them to produce sperm is the very same hormone that gives them the ability to have sex at all - with too little or no testosterone, the libido is either decreased or nonexistent, or there's no ability to get an erection.
Then, of course, there's the side effect that if they start getting too little testosterone and too much estrogen, their breasts start growing. Most guys, fans of Fight Club or not, do not want Bob's Bitch Tits.
That sounds like a perfect anniversary gift!Quote:
Originally posted by WhyNot
However, she likely won't read it. Is there a pop-up version available?
I thought you were in charge of the pop-up! 8-)Quote:
Originally posted by Phalanx
There is a website with excerpts and stuff, if you want a taste of the theory: http://www.ovusoft.com/ Or, you could read the book, talk her into letting you take her temp each morning while she's waking up and then ask her to report the consistency of her cervical fluid to you after she goes to the bathroom. You can do the rest of the charting and figuring out if she's fertile; it's not a Women's Mystery or anything. It took me longer to type that then it takes me to use the method each morning.
One reason I like the method is that it's easy to share the burden of contraception, which is emotionally satisfying and bonding and stuff. Plus, if you've got the data, you don't need to worry or wonder if she's using the method correctly. I don't know how y'all trust a woman with a diaphragm or a pill, I really don't. Do you know how easy those are to screw up without even realizing it?!
I taught my teenage son about fertile quality cervical fluid (demonstrating with the goo from a nopales I was cleaning for dinner, don't worry - I didn't show him my cervical fluid!) 'cause it's such an easy sign to guesstimate fertility from! "Son, if she's got fluid like this - *stretchstretchstretch* - don't have sex that night, even with a condom." I find it mind boggling that men aren't taught this only slightly less than my mind is boggled that women aren't taught this.
Prevent ejaculation? Most guys encourage it! :lol:Quote:
Originally posted by WhyNot
I dunno, I'd be cool if the pill that I take now is something I could rely on. I make the bf wear condoms because neither of us trust the pill enough. Even though I've been taking it for years and am pretty reliable with it, I've met too many people who have gotten pregnant on it. And it's way too soon for anyone in this relationship to be snipped or whatever.
I have the worst luck so even though as a woman I am infertile most of the month, I don't want to fuck with my chances. Literally. :)
Last time I went to Planned Parenthood, they told me there was a male birth control pill and it cost $35 a box. I was shocked. There must have been some kind of major miscommunication at work, since I assume this would be much bigger news on the dating scene if it were for real.
That seems a little silly, frankly. How many monogamous couples out there only trust each other because the man is too scared of pregnancy to sleep with someone else?Quote:
Originally posted by Phalanx
I think that if you take a realistic look at the numbers, and if you're a responsible woman who takes the pill consistently and at the same time everyday, you'll find that it is the best reversible option there is, and your friends' experiences are statistical outliers. So far outlying, in fact, that if you're talking less then 50 pregnant friends, 99.9% of their pregnancies can be assumed due to intentional or accidental misuse of the pill, not the pill taken correctly and failing.Quote:
Originally posted by myskepticsight
But I totally understand using multiple methods for peace of mind, believe me!
I'm going to join in with the crowd of voices saying that it's apparently just a much, much harder problem, medically. Everyone look up "gossypol" (I think that's what it's called) on Wikipedia -- there has been a lot of effort to come up with things, but anything that actually works (like this stuff) has major, major problems that make it unacceptable.
As for all the stuff about "trust", I've heard enough stories about crazy bitches pretending to be on the pill (and I know it's not something common, but it does happen) that I would think a sexually active heterosexual guy would probably be happy to have something they could rely on.