Male contraceptive pill

[Enigmers]

Scientists say they've created the "male pill".It was developed by researchers in Israel, the oral pill works by removing a crucial protein in sperm, effectively deactivating it before it reaches the womb. It's proven to be 100% effective?at least on mice.

For some reason my first reaction to this post was "Well that's great, but I'm not fucking mice."

That'd be a great job to have, to be a lab rat; they give you painless little pill and then say "go hump like a jackrabbit; it's for science, little buddy!"

 

[Bourne]

Good? I can still see idiotic stories popping up concerning how someone told the girl they're involved with he's took a pill and a condom isn't necessary, but hasn't. Hilarity ensuing.

Yes, because nothing is funnier than unintended pregnancy.

 

[Canid117]

Still doesn't protect from Syphilis.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Good? I can still see idiotic stories popping up concerning how someone told the girl they're involved with he's took a pill and a condom isn't necessary, but hasn't. Hilarity ensuing.

Yes, because nothing is funnier than unintended pregnancy.

"Hey baby, last weekend was a blast eh?"
"I'm pregnant"
"We should stop seeing each other."

Hehehe, hehe, heh... It's not funny, is it? Rrrriiight...

I would happily take 5 of these.

How about 20? What happens if you take 20?

Obviously you would be 20 times less likely to have a kid! Hurray!

Hurrah for condom free sex! Wait, this pill doesn't protect against STD's right?

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

First thought: What does that tell you about science if they are now spending their time by drugging mice and watching as they have sex?

Second thought: Would you trust in science that can't write properly?

Third thought: After some other guys have tried those out to see the long-term side effects i might be interested in trying those out. (As long as nothing horrible happens)

 

[Plurralbles]

Hey all, this is interesting, but I changed my stance regarding how long i'll give for the research to come in: I will simply have my sperm saved in a bank before beginning the regimen just in case my sperm gets screwed up in some way.

 

[The Red Spy]

Good? I can still see idiotic stories popping up concerning how someone told the girl they're involved with he's took a pill and a condom isn't necessary, but hasn't. Hilarity ensuing.

I can defiantly see that. Women are pretty good about taking birth control, because oh yah if we mess up we are the ones carrying an unwanted child for 9 miserable months, if a guy messes up he can pretty much disappear and take no responsibility. I would not trust a guy who said, "Oh yah I'm on the pill" it sounds as reassuring as, "Don't worry I'll pull out in time."

My point exactly. Still there's going to be cases where the girl is either A) Too trusting, B) Stupid, or a C) pissed out of her head. Or any combo of the three.

Even in a relationship, there's always the possibility the one taking the pill forgets or is late administoring it. Or there's always the chance either one of the two could stop taking the pill deliberately, there's legal battles which start over a woman attempting to get pregnant for their own gain.

Putting it simply, you're still a fucking idiot if you screw with someone you can't trust in the first place.

 

[VivaciousDeimos]

Do you know anything about biology?

Not my first subject but let's see.

Spermatozoan in the male ejaculate: Says 20 million, more than I thought.
Female Ovums within the fallopian tubes: Usually 1 every 2 weeks.

So, given that one will activate the other, I'd say a target of one is easier to get than hitting all 20 million.

Yes, but it isn't really a fair comparison because this new pill and traditional birth control work in completely different ways. Female birth control affects hormones. The hormones in the pill affect the hormones in the pituitary gland by preventing them from releasing eggs (and other stuff, but that's the gist). There's already a male contraceptive shot, in the human testing phase, which does something similar with hormones preventing sperm production. What these new scientists are saying is that their pill affects the proteins, and since they're not screwing around with the hormones that's why there aren't negative side affects showing up yet, but they don't explain much more than that. But what I'm basically saying is that it isn't numbers, but the chemical process that's important.

 

[tassyk]

Wow, there is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Didn't you guys pay attention in sex ed?

The female pill doesn't introduce weird chemicals into the body; it is made up of oestrogen and progesterone (albeit synthetic versions). The strongest of the pills have both, the minipills only have the progesterone. And they don't work on the 'egg' - well the oestrogen bit stops it from developing, but mostly the pill affects the lining of the womb, making it impossible for the egg to lodge itself in there and making the area more hostile to 'sperm'. The steady nature of the hormones should theoretically make a girl LESS moody, but may have unwanted side effects like pimples and becoming fat. A minority of women suffer a range of weird side effects from the hormones and do not like using the pill. There are also alternatives to the daily pill, such as the tri-monthly injection or the FIVE YEARLY implanted device, which use very little of the hormone progesterone and may be good alternatives for women who struggle with the pill.

A male pill has been talked about on and off for years now. Obviously clinical trials for this one will take years, and won't be made available unless it doesn't cause infertility and such. Sounds like a great idea to me. Condoms, as someone rightly pointed out, are great against STD's but only around 80% effective aginst unwanted pregnancies. So if I were, say, a guy who liked to sleep around, I would probably take this monthly pill, and helmet up when sleeping with the randoms. It would also be great for couples who have been together a while and know they're STI free (you wanna lose the condoms pretty quick after that, they can be a romance killer sometimes). Or, in the case of a friend of mine, if you have a crazy ***** of a girlfriend who tells you she thought about putting holes in your condoms cause she wants a baby so much. (Don't worry, he left her before babies could happen)

And, for all you men out there not worried about getting wimmins pregnant cause you can just leave her, remember that if she has it, you owe her child support for 18 years. Not to mention an unpleasant knock on your door, when you're living with your new wife and your 2.4 kids - "HI DAD!"

Alright sex ed's over kids.

 

[RedPandaMan]

Seems unnecessary when there are perfectly good other methods available. But hell, another failsafe is always a good thing.

 

[VivaciousDeimos]

Wow, there is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Didn't you guys pay attention in sex ed?

I think they might have taken sex ed away in favor of the abstinence only policy.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

But what I'm basically saying is that it isn't numbers, but the chemical process that's important.

Ah fair enough, I took maths rather than the yucky biology, but I think my psychological points still hold fast.

I'd still be curious over how they intend to subject it to normal clinical trials. Would you go for it? And how do they provide proof that it does work?

For a start, and this bit of biology I do know, Humans don't have a set mating cycle, where 99.9% of animals do.

For a second thought, given there's a protein destroying element within the seminal fluid (AFAICT), couldn't that also interact with the female cell?

Alright sex ed's over kids.

Yes dad...shouldn't you be getting your pension by now?

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

There really is no excuse for accidental pregancies anymore, with the exception of dangerous volumes of alcohol.

The options that don't render your testicles useless are not 100% effective, meaning that whilst accidental pregnancies are(arguably)unlikely, they are also an inevitability.

My friend has a baby despite condoms, with a very short term girlfriend who now dislikes him very much. Needless to say his circumstances are undesirable, and he isn't getting much enjoyment out of his existence.

Get snipped, or be prepared to live with some uncertainty.

 

[tassyk]

I'd still be curious over how they intend to subject it to normal clinical trials. Would you go for it? And how do they provide proof that it does work?

The same way they always do - offer people who don't have steady jobs a large amount of cash.

 

[Blueruler182]

In five years it'll cause cancer. In twelve it'll make you sterile. Yeah, nothing good has come of mouse testing. They were supposed to find a cure for spinal injuries because it worked on mice. Still not hearin' anything about those spinal cures.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I'd still be curious over how they intend to subject it to normal clinical trials. Would you go for it? And how do they provide proof that it does work?

The same way they always do - offer people who don't have steady jobs a large amount of cash.

But how could they prove it works? Even running basic statistics, that's a hell of a lot of work.

All in all, I'd be more pleased if they could reverse the process to make men/women more fertile; IVF (AFAIK) isn't even at that stage.

 

[e2density]

Sounds awesome! I WANT IT.