Cosmopolitan_Australia_-_November_2016.bak

love & lust

WE GRIPE ABOUT OUR BIRTH CONTROL

options, but women have choices

galore compared to men, who can

only choose between condoms,

vasectomy or abstinence. 82 per

cent of guys say they wish they had

more methods to choose from. So

what’s taking so long?

A lot of the challenge is purely

biological. Men make about 1500

sperm every second while a woman

releases just one egg per month. “If

we suppress her ovulation by 98 per

cent, she ovulates two months out

of a hundred,” explains Dr John

Amory, a professor of medicine at

the University of Washington who

has researched male contraception

for 15 years. “If we suppress 98 per

cent of a man’s sperm count, he still

could have one million remaining.”

Another problem: men are never not

fertile. “Female hormonal methods

work by mimicking the natural pause

in fertility women experience while

pregnant,” adds Dr Amory. “There’s

no such pause for men.”

Researchers at universities and

nonprofits, supported by funding

from the National Institutes of Health,

are pursuing methods including both

hormonal and non-hormonal pills,

topical testosterone gels to suppress

sperm production, and injections of

polymer gel near the testicles that

blockthetubesthattransportsperm.

A German inventor even announced

plans this year for a so-called dick

switch, a scrotal implant that would

THE

QUEST

FOR THE

MALE

PILL

V

VERY CLUELESS, TBH.  









      

 



 

 









  







!" 

  #$$    



%    #     

& '()*



* 

#   

+



 



   $

#    

# 

$    

,

   #    - $ 



#   

%    #     

&

    

  



.     

     



'/  #     



    0       

$

$

     #12#      

       

        3

 

   



###1    #    #



$     

$ 

    

*    



  #    

 



 



    *    

Journal of Adolescent

Health%4     0$  

*

  







  





  



$

 

*  



   # 



    





 

   

   



*&   

  )  ##*$5



6



7#

/7

%4    



    # *

/  



$  

   #

#*   

   

$

   -

   &

allow a guy to turn his sperm ducts
off. Sadly, none of these options will
be available any time soon. Getting
approval and bringing a product to
market requires the resources of a
pharmaceutical company, and none
have shown interest so far. In 2006,
Schering AG and Organon ditched
clinical trials on a hormonal method
because it was unlikely the product
would be accessible for widespread
use, according to a press release.
Fear of litigation may be another
factor. “There are well-known risks
associated with female contraception,
but they are accepted because the
risks during the pregnancy are so
much higher,” says Dr Amory. “Men
have no physical risks associated
with pregnancy, which makes any
side effect difficult to justify.”
Still, 3 out of 4 guys would at
least consider using a method that
required them to take a pill every day
or required an injection in the arm
every few months. And more than
half are willing to consider a method
that includes hormones to decrease
WORDS BY KELLY MICKLE. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT TRACHTENBERG. FASHION EDITOR sperm production. It’s a start. #

: ADAM MANSUROGLU. GROOMER: CASEY GEREN USING LAURA ME

RCIER. MANICURE BY

TATYANA MOLOT USING CHANEL LE VERNIS. MODEL: DOMINIC/BELLA AGENCY. PRO

P STYLIST: MARK CHANDLER/ART DEPARTMENT. FIRST PAGE SHOT

AT KAVA CAFE IN NYC

COSMOPOLITAN November 2016 155