Have you ever stopped to wonder why there are only two forms of male birth control, while there are 12 options for women? This is because men continue to place the burden of birth control on women.
Male contraceptive methods are currently extremely limited to condoms and vasectomy. Abstinence is another alternative, but there is debate whether it counts as birth control and whether education around abstinence effectively prevents pregnancy.
Women’s contraceptive methods include birth control pills, morning-after pills, vaginal rings, skin patches, injections, copper or hormonal IUDs, implants and more.
When comparing timelines of male and female birth control, it is clear that male contraception is lagging behind. The movement for female contraceptives began in the 1920s, with the first oral contraceptive for women becoming available in the 1950s. As of 2024, female birth control has been available for nearly 75 years.
Where is the movement for men’s contraception? Clinical trials for hormonal male birth control began in the 1970s, yet no product has been released to the general public.
Announcements about male contraceptives getting closer to release have been made time and time again, but have yet to be produced. The most recent progress comes from the development of Nestorone/Testosterone, which has advanced to phase II of clinical trials. 100 couples have successfully completed a one-year clinical trial.
“No male birth control product has made it to Phase III in the United States,” according to Diana Blithe, Ph.D., chief of NICHD’s Contraceptive Development Program.
Why is there such a disparity between these timelines, and in the variety of contraceptive options for the sexes? The answer lies in men continuing to place the responsibility of contraception on women.
Some could argue that in today’s dating scene, this is false, because condom usage is so widespread.
However, according to a study from the Sexually Transmitted Infections Journal, “Data showed that consistency of condom use was poor among individuals who reported high rates of partner change, with less than half of those reporting multiple partners in the past 4 weeks reporting consistent condom use.”
Among men who use condoms, it is likely that once both partners have been tested for STIs, the responsibility for contraception shifts to the women, given the numerous methods available to her.
In these cases, women bear all the physical, psychological and financial burdens of contraception while men typically no longer worry about it.
Birth control options for women often come with a list of possible physical and psychological side effects that are almost comically large.
Physical effects include, but are not limited to, nausea, headaches, acne, an increase in blood pressure, weight gain, breast pain and increased or irregular bleeding. Depending on the type of contraceptive, complications such as perforation of the uterine wall and infection can also occur.
As for psychological effects, women report increased levels of depression, anxiety and anger while on hormonal birth control. They also report struggles with emotional regulation and memory issues while on the pill, suggesting that it affects important neural pathways of the brain.
According to a study from the National Library of Medicine, 83% of participants said their provider never mentioned the possibility of psychological side effects during contraception counseling.
Men expect women to take these risks for them. Most men are unwilling to endure similar side effects for male birth control. In fact, a male birth control study was canceled in 2016 due to complaints by participants experiencing acne and mood swings.
Male birth control continues to be limited because men refuse to accept the complications that women have endured since the 1950s.
Birth control most likely will never exist without certain side effects, but it seems men will continue to push back the release date of new male contraceptives until there aren’t any.
