New Male Birth Control Pill Succeeds In Preliminary Testing (time.com)

"A second male birth control pill succeeded in preliminary testing, suggesting that a new form of contraception may eventually exist," reports Time: The new pill, which works similarly to female contraception, passed initial safety tests and produced hormone responses consistent with effective birth control in 30 men, according to research presented by the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Washington at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting. (The study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.) It's early days for the drug -- which has not yet been submitted for approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- but co-principal investigator Dr. Christina Wang, lead researcher at LA BioMed, says it's an important step toward effective, reversible male hormonal contraception....

Unlike a 2016 male birth control trial that famously stopped enrolling volunteers early because so many men complained of side effects, none of the men experienced serious problems, and no one stopped taking the drug because of side effects.

Comments

Re:So?

[AmiMoJo]

I wonder if this might help overcome some of the distrust that has arise over the last decade. When the female pill was invented it was very liberating for women, and while things are different for men today perhaps it might also help some men who have anxiety about unwanted pregnancy.

Re:So?

[RobinH]

Even if you're in a committed long term relationship, if your only birth control is the female pill, you're putting all the responsibility on one person. In our case I would much rather have taken on the responsibility instead of her (or even better, in addition to her). Forgetting to take the pill once in a while is a common problem, and some people are more reliable than others. It's not like I could ask her every day if she took the pill - that's a surefire way to piss her off because it shows I don't trust her, even though she did occasionally forget. It makes sense for both people to have the option. If I were in those years again, and there was a reliable, safe male birth control pill with only moderate to minor side effects, I'd be on it for sure.