The idea that
this
s c enario
It’s not that it’s not possible
As women know, all birth-control methods have
to be three things: effective, reversible, and safe.
And it’s taken scientists a very long while to
achieve all these for men (for a play-by-play, see
the timeline below). After all, it’s no small feat to
prevent the 800 million sperm in a single ejacula-
tion from doing their thing, says Diana Blithe,
PhD, program chief with the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development’s Contra-
ceptive Development Program.
In 1974, Elsimar Coutinho, MD, thought he’d
hit the trifecta with gossypol, an oral contracep-
tive for men that used a chemical from cotton
plants to reduce sperm count. But it was kiboshed
before it ever hit the market when studies found
that it wasn’t so reversible after all. Since then,
researchers have focused on hormonal methods,
including weekly testosterone shots, that have
been proven to be both effective and possible to
undo. But products keep hitting the same snag:
the third requirement, safety—or what women
who’ve been taking birth control forever know as
side effects.
Issues like weight gain, acne, and mood
swings—yes, the stuff we deal with daily—have,
at one point or another, shut down an otherwise
successful male contraceptive drug trial. In 1996,
the new potential It Drug for men was shots of
testosterone, but after testers complained of
weight gain, decreased testicular volume, and
the weekly shot schedule, it was killed. Ten years
later, another clinical trial of testosterone and1827
Scientists discover
the female egg, unlocking
the mystery of
human reproduction.1600 BCE
Egyptian women soak cotton
in a mixture of fruit, honey,
and dates and put it in their
vaginas as DIY spermicide.1000 BCE
The first recorded
use of primitive
condoms made from
silk paper, linen,
and horn.1960
The FDA approves
Enovid, the first
hormonal birth-control pill
for women.1954
Doctors start
performing
vasectomies
for actual
sterilization.1832
Charles Knowlton, MD,
recommends women pump
an acidic solution into their
vaginas to kill semen.1823
The first vasectomy is
performed, although
not for birth control
but to shrink a man’s
prostate.1960 S
A trial of Win
18,4 46—a sperm -
reducing pill—fails after
one guy drinks on the
med and gets sick.1909
Richard Richter, MD,
pubs a paper about early
insertions of IUDs
made from silkworm gut.1855
Rubber is introduced
into condom
production and
men are told they’re
reusable.1974
Elsimar Coutinho,
MD, presents gossypol,
a plant-based pill,
at a UN Population
Conference.could be a reality (give or take a few details) has
been looming for what feels like forever. Head-
lines have promised that long-term, reversible
male birth control is *this close*. Then...nothing.
It’s all started to feel like a cruel, elaborate joke.
How can women have dozens of contraceptive
options and men only have two: one-time-use
condoms and permanent vasectomies?
As our investigation found, it depends on who
you ask. Some scientists say killing millions of
sperm is harder than dealing with one egg. Phar-
maceutical companies tend to think it’s too risky
to fund the development of something men
won’t use (and women won’t trust them to take).
Independent experts blame systemic sexism.
Reproduction, they say, is still seen as strictly a
“women’s issue.”
We also found something else, something
major: Many of these hang-ups—the very reasons
male birth control has stalled again and again—
are lies. Researchers have discovered methods
that work, and men want their own birth-control
options. And according to an exclusive Cosmo
survey, women overwhelmingly want men to
have them too.
“But wanting male birth control is different
than us being able to get it approved,” says John
Amory, MD, a medical professor at the University
of Washington School of Medicine at the fore-
front of the latest male BC trials. Here’s why it’s
still out of reach.Women’sBCMen’sBCA li’l history lesson in birth control
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