J. D. Stembal Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 I'd like to initiate a dialog regarding the need for male oral birth control. As it stands, with all the technology we possess as humans, men only have three forms of birth control, and only one of them is 100% effective assuming no sperm jacking. 1. We can abstain from vaginal sex (or all sex). 2. We can undergo the invasive and often irreversible procedure of a vasectomy. 3. We can rely on condoms that sometimes "climb", slide off, break or leak, even if utilized properly. Proper sizing can be a really tricky issue. What men desperately need is a temporary oral contraceptive, so we can be sure that we are starting a family when we want to start a family. Take this recent story on Reddit that illustrates why men, single and married, both need an effective oral form of birth control. http://www.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/2n45v8/my_28_m_close_friend_28_m_had_a_vasectomy_and_is/ What are your thoughts on this topic? I would like to hear them, pro or con. Thank you! ETU
Mister Mister Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 Pro!!!! Also I want the government to force my employer to pay for it
cab21 Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 what pills are on the market, and what are their side effects?
MarcAnthony Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 Ive been saying for years that its ridiculous that the market has yet to produce a male "pill". There must be some physiological barriers perhaps, but still Im surprised its not even discussed more. Men would line up though.
yagami Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 The reason this is medically very complicated is because females have one cell (the egg) that has to be shut down in order to stop pregnancy. For men there are millions of cells (sperm) you have to shut down. The degree of complexity goes way up when you are dealing with it in this manner. If you introduce a drug into the body to forcible make the body produce unusable sperm the body will constantly be trying to move itself back to normalcy. Because of this it is very hard to get every sperm to be unusable. Hope that gives some perspective on why this problem hasn't been solved yet in the same way it has been solved for females.
st434u Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 I'm not sure what you're petitioning for. I'm sure an effective and relatively safe birth control pill for men would be very profitable for the company developing, producing and marketing it. Of course, someone has to come up with the pill first. I have no moral qualms with it either way, if men want to use it, they should be allowed to. I know I would never in a million years take such a pill willingly. Birth control pills for women are already very harmful in my view, and based on what yagami said, it would probably be a lot worse for men. *EDIT: I just read the story, and the husband is complete garbage. That's like reverse spermjacking+demanding child support. Probably worse, since she can't get back those years no matter what; whereas child support can be repaid. I'm not sure if this is why you brought up the story, but if there was a birth control pill for men, and he was doing that without telling her, it would be the same. **EDIT2, after reading the updates: I'm actually relieved to find out that the garbage husband married a garbage wife, and they both deserved each other. Now I see why you brought up the story for this thread. The writer's wife is another issue, but I don't wanna delve that deep into the story.
PGP Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 EDIT: I just read the story, and the husband is complete garbage. That's like reverse spermjacking+demanding child support. Probably worse, since she can't get back those years no matter what; whereas child support can be repaid. I'm not sure if this is why you brought up the story, but if there was a birth control pill for men, and he was doing that without telling her, it would be the same. I would like to add my thoughts to this. It seems, as far as I can tell, that the wife went off the pill unbeknownst to the husband while he had made it clear he didn't want to try for a baby. This is the primary concern IMO. What happens between consenting adults is theirs to gain/lose from. In this case, the wife was willing to bring a child into the world without the stable and consenting environment that should be necessary. This prospective child had no choice in the matter. What he did was wrong in terms of honesty to his wife, what she did was reckless and utterly selfish. It also seems to me that they did not have an accurate or sufficient knowledge of each other for the purposes of marriage and both were dishonest. IMO it worked out, luckily for them and any child, with divorce sans said child.
yagami Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 I think a lot of men will still take it. For the same reasons woman take the pill despite it's obvious dangers. Me and my wife track her ovulation cycle so we can know when it's even possible for her to get pregnant. Been almost two years and she isn't pregnant yet. Almost all drugs are very dangerous because drugs by their nature are trying to stop what is occurring naturally in the body. Our understanding of the human body despite what you may have heard is quite limited. There is a very good reason why which I wont get into here since it is pretty far off topic but we wont come to an understanding of how to safely do this for a long time. And that's assuming doing this safely is even possible. We may find out in the future that it is actually impossible to create a drug with no side effects.
PGP Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 EDIT: I just read the story, and the husband is complete garbage. That's like reverse spermjacking+demanding child support. Probably worse, since she can't get back those years no matter what; whereas child support can be repaid. I'm not sure if this is why you brought up the story, but if there was a birth control pill for men, and he was doing that without telling her, it would be the same. I would like to add my thoughts to this. It seems, as far as I can tell, that the wife went off the pill unbeknownst to the husband while he had made it clear he didn't want to try for a baby. This is the primary concern IMO. What happens between consenting adults is theirs to gain/lose from. In this case, the wife was willing to bring a child into the world without the stable and consenting environment that should be necessary. This prospective child had no choice in the matter. What he did was wrong in terms of honesty to his wife, what she did was reckless and utterly selfish. It also seems to me that they did not have an accurate or sufficient knowledge of each other for the purposes of marriage and both were dishonest. IMO it worked out, luckily for them and any child, with divorce sans said child.
Ken Cotton Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 A male pill would be useful to stop pregnancies, but would probably cause an explosion of STD spread. I am as dissatisfied as anyone by condoms but their additional protections aside from blocking sperm are relevant. It's just a physics and logistical reality that stopping STDs at least is best served by men wearing condoms. I'm sure this would be a great product for people in committed monogamous relationships to use, but I'm afraid that the bulk of sexually irresponsible people would consider themselves safe from their main objection ( paying for kids ) with little regard for others ( spread of disease ).
J. D. Stembal Posted November 26, 2014 Author Posted November 26, 2014 what pills are on the market, and what are their side effects? The only thing you can buy now is this herbal remedy from Indonesia which costs over $100 for thirty pills (I checked online), so theoretically you would have to pay at least $1200 a year assuming the proper dosage is one pill a day. I should have included this article in my original post, but the post got eaten by moderation and I couldn't edit it. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/01/who-wants-male-contraceptive-pill-chauvinism Researchers in the field say that the problem is two fold. First, the pill must stop all sperm, and second, it must have acceptable or beneficial side effects. There is such a remedy in the UK, but they can't raise any money for funding continued research. Apparently, it has something to do with preventing ejaculate entirely, so the side effect is "dry firing".
cab21 Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 dry firing, if that can work, would also help prevent std's and lower cleaning bills.
yagami Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 The only thing you can buy now is this herbal remedy from Indonesia which costs over $100 for thirty pills (I checked online), so theoretically you would have to pay at least $1200 a year assuming the proper dosage is one pill a day. I should have included this article in my original post, but the post got eaten by moderation and I couldn't edit it. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/01/who-wants-male-contraceptive-pill-chauvinism Researchers in the field say that the problem is two fold. First, the pill must stop all sperm, and second, it must have acceptable or beneficial side effects. There is such a remedy in the UK, but they can't raise any money for funding continued research. Apparently, it has something to do with preventing ejaculate entirely, so the side effect is "dry firing". Dry firing sounds painful to me lol.
cab21 Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 tea-bagging half boiling water sounded even worse than dry firing from that article. child support payments are getting huge, so maybe that alone makes it worth it. 40%, i don't know how many families with a father, a mother, and children would spend 40% of that income on the child.
J. D. Stembal Posted November 26, 2014 Author Posted November 26, 2014 tea-bagging half boiling water sounded even worse than dry firing from that article. child support payments are getting huge, so maybe that alone makes it worth it. 40%, i don't know how many families with a father, a mother, and children would spend 40% of that income on the child. Right. I would rather abstain from sexual activity than roast my undercarriage in 116 degree water every day for six weeks.
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