Men can take birth control shots to prevent pregnancy in their female partners, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Researchers are still working to perfect the combination of hormonal contraceptives to reduce the risk of mild to moderate side effects, including depression and other mood disorders.
While women can choose from a number of birth control methods, men have few options to control their own fertility. Available methods for men include condoms, vasectomies and withdrawal.
Better birth control options are needed for men. In 2012, 40 percent of all pregnancies worldwide were unintended, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
[...] Researchers stopped enrolling new participants in the study in 2011 due to the rate of adverse events, particularly depression and other mood disorders, reported by the participants. The men reported side effects including injection site pain, muscle pain, increased libido and acne. Twenty men dropped out of the study due to side effects.
Despite the adverse effects, more than 75 percent of participants reported being willing to use this method of contraception at the conclusion of the trial.
Given the number and nature of the side-effects, the researchers have called for further study to reduce their effects.
Journal Reference:
Hermann M. Behre, et al, Efficacy and Safety of an Injectable Combination Hormonal Contraceptive for Men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, October 27, 2016 DOI: 10.1210/jc.2016-2141
Where are the shots administered?
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:59AM
Why would I want to pay good money and get stabbed when sodomy is 100% effective?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @12:17PM
Bacterial infection of your wang?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @01:03PM
You mean abstinence, right? Sex is baaaaad.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday October 29 2016, @01:18PM
I think you've mistaken me for some right-wing, religious type. I'm neither. I'm all about the premarital sex. As long as nobody gets knocked up that is. Personal responsibility, yo.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:50PM
Here in the degenerate state of California we were taught in sex ed that even sodomy is not 100% effective, because some of the nut could dribble out of the butthole and into the cooch.
Fortunately, there's always the option of a forty of Mickey's and a coat-hanger, the falcon-punch, or a ride down the stairs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:17PM
Remember that according to the Christian right, no method of contraception is 100 effective. Not even abstinence is, just ask Mary and Joseph.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:34PM
That's why you unload in their mouth or spray it all over their face. Have you learned nothing from watching porn?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 31 2016, @02:43AM
This is why you only fuck women before they start or after they stop menstruating.
I'm sure all those post-menopausal women would enjoy the attention! :)
(Score: 2) by KiloByte on Sunday October 30 2016, @03:50AM
Marduk, Buddha, Qi, Lao-Tse, Abaoji, Jesus, Horus, Mithra, Mithras, Krishna, Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Alan Gua, Momotarō and Deganawida would argue that even abstinence isn't 100% proof.
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday October 30 2016, @02:55AM
Heh... I'm RTFA'ing (fap*fap*fap) and.... hmm. The side effects, and the rebound effect one guy reported, sound like it also fucks with thyroid function. If so, the long term side effects are way not worth it.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by iamjacksusername on Saturday October 29 2016, @01:55PM
Meanwhile, Vasagel had to crowdfund $85,000 to pay for a safety study.
https://www.parsemusfoundation.org/projects/vasalgel/ [parsemusfoundation.org]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by wisnoskij on Saturday October 29 2016, @02:11PM
I have never understood why these chemical solutions are even legal. AIDs is on the raise again, if you are not trying to get pregnant, you really need to use a condom or be celibate. And the demographics are changing, women are now not just going to Paris and Greece, looking for a fling with an exotic sexually aggressive man, they are going to Kenya.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:24PM
You had good points up until your changing demographics bit. Whether its a girl or a guy STDs still get around. Did you break off a relationship over a vacation to Kenya??
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:10PM
Because there's totally no such thing as STD testing or other forms of birth control, and everybody knows that wearing a condom feels 100% exactly like sex without one for both people involved.
(Score: 2) by pendorbound on Monday October 31 2016, @04:19PM
Because sometimes barriers fail and the odds of having a pregnancy are significantly higher than the odds of transmitting STI's. Belt + suspenders. Call it "Plan A-point-five..."
Because sometimes barriers are made to fail. She wants a kid, he doesn't, and oops where did that little pinhole in the condom come from / where did all those birth control pills go? Now he has an option he knows can't be tampered with.
Because even fluid bonded partners might not want to have kids right now. She could be on the pill, but maybe she hates the side effects and maybe the side effects for him are less severe. The only male option would require surgical reversal which is by no means certain to succeed and quite expensive.
Because making your own health decisions and choosing what level of risk you're willing to accept is still a thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:11PM
Let us see how long until a fatal flaw becomes obvious in this medical research.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:13PM
ctrl-F "blind" : FAIL
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:59PM
The last time a new birth control was up for men during the early 90s, feminist had a conniption over the idea that men should be able to covertly control their own procreation.
So I am wondering what is new now, or do I get to relive that ugliness again?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by tathra on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:15PM
the idea of male birth control is fucking great, but if i was a woman there is no fucking way i would trust some random guy to claims to be using it to be telling the truth - in fact i would be 100% sure he was lying. about the only place male birth control makes sense is in a relationship, where you can actually know for sure that your partner is using it. female birth control is known to cause depression and all kinds of other bad side effects, so if we can have better options for male birth control, all the better, except women who aren't in trusting relationships should still make sure they do birth control themselves, otherwise she's gonna get pregnant and fast.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:37PM
Both sexes face risk when trusting that the other person's claim of being on birth control, so the only way to be sure is to take matters in your own hands.
To focus exclusively on women and their degree of trust is detached from reality- you don't hear of men poking holes in condoms.
Best overall is to keep your status private, except men can be forbidden from pursuing paternity tests, so even with birth control, they can be held liable.
A woman is always certain the baby is hers. A man never is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 30 2016, @02:42AM
Yeah you do, just not their own. I've heard about plenty of assholes - all men - who go into places like Planned Parenthood and poke holes into the free condoms they pass out there, usually just to be a fucking dick.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @07:55AM
I call bullshit on your story. How do you poke holes in condoms that will be given to others? It's not like you can do it without getting caught.
(Score: 1) by zugedneb on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:45PM
... why fuck with random guy who you do not trust?
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 2) by tathra on Sunday October 30 2016, @02:39AM
never heard of one night stands? i've heard that people even do them without even trying to learn each others' names sometimes.
(Score: 1) by zugedneb on Sunday October 30 2016, @09:46AM
...where is the pleasure in fucking people u do not trust?
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 2) by Taibhsear on Monday October 31 2016, @11:52PM
In the genitals mostly.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Sunday October 30 2016, @07:03AM
female birth control is known to cause depression and all kinds of other bad side effects
Not quite true. The vast majority of women that take BCP don't experience any noticeable side–effects; most potential side–effects fall into the "tiny increase in the chances of [something statistically unlikely]" category. It's just that the classic "vocal minority" issue comes into play, making it seem like BCP causes far more trouble than it really does.
except women who aren't in trusting relationships should still make sure they do birth control themselves, otherwise she's gonna get pregnant and fast.
I'd say that women having sex outside of a trusting relationship (whether it's romantic or friends-with-benefits) should be using spermicide with condoms and/or a diaphragm in order to reduce the risk of catching a nasty STD.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 30 2016, @07:14AM
Hmm lets play the 'guess my gender' game.
I can get pregnant when I want.
I can abort a child when I want.
I get paid in the name of kid.
I am not required to spend my money on my kid.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @09:53PM
"If you use a condom it means you don't trust me."
When I was young and stupid I got a girlfriend who said this very thing to me. Instead of walking away, I embarked on a 2 year relationship because of low self esteem. Yes, it's not just girls who do things because of low self esteem.
Fortunately she didn't have the same accident with me as she had with the previous boyfriend who she threw out for looking at a porno mag or something equally terrible.
Male contraceptive injections are very welcome.