2 girls 1 (sex) column Sharing the Responsibility Aislann Wyatt
It goes both ways when it come to birth control
"With respect to the sharing of the responsibility of birth control, one of the most exciting potential breakthroughs is the possibility of a hormonal birth control method for men."
If you were to ask students on the Guelph campus to list forms of birth control, I'd bet that most would be able to come up with condoms, but that every other method would be female-specific: such as the pill, the shot and the ring
Hormonal birth control methods for women work by introducing hormones (usually a combination of estrogen and progestin) into a woman's body that prevents her ovaries from releasing an egg, since with no egg there is no chance of pregnancy. Some hormonal methods also thicken the cervical mucus which makes it harder for sperm to get to the ovaries, or alter the lining of the uterus to make it hard for an egg to implant. These methods are from 92 to 99.7 per cent effective in preventing pregnancy.
The availability of so many types of hormonal birth control for women is excellent, and allows them to take control of their fertility, which can be very empowering. But unfortunately with this control also comes the burden of bearing the responsibility for birth control almost entirely on their shoulders. I'm hugely in favour of both partners sharing the responsibility of birth control. This can involve partners discussing birth control methods together, and deciding as a pair what methods they think would work for them. Women can ask their partner to help them remember to take their pill each day. Men can take the responsibility of bringing and wearing a condom. Any way that both partners can be involved in contraception decisions are worth exploring.
With respect to the sharing of the responsibility of birth control, one of the most exciting potential breakthroughs is the possibility of a hormonal birth control method for men. There have been whispers of its development for years now, but the widely held belief that women are the ones responsible for birth control has limited funding available for research. Also, it seems inherently more difficult to stop the 120 million sperm men release per ejaculation than the one egg women produce per month.
Even with these hurdles in the way, research is being conducted and there are some interesting developments. One method involves introducing more testosterone into men's systems. While this might seem counter-intuitive (since testosterone is the male sex hormone) it would work by tricking the brain into thinking that sperm production is already in full swing, so the brain wouldn't send the hormonal message to make more.
This testosterone could be administered via, a patch or gel applied to the skin, an injection every three months or an implant inserted every 12 months. Unlike female hormonal birth control, a daily oral pill would most likely not be the method of choice for delivering testosterone, since the digestive system would degrade the hormone and render it less effective. Also, unlike female hormonal methods of birth control, most of which are fully effective after a maximum of a one month cycle, the male hormonal method could take up to three months to become effective.
Testosterone-based birth control would also unfortunately most likely have unwanted side effects such as increased acne, weight gain, prostate gland growth and abnormal liver function. With this in mind other researchers are looking into using progestogen, a hormone found in the female birth control pill, which has been shown to suppress the reproductive hormones in both men and women. However, this hormone could reduce men's sex drive and other sex characteristics, so it would need to be supplemented with testosterone injections.
Hormonal birth control for men also has social stumbling blocks in its way. Many women are hesitant to trust men to take their birth control responsibly, since the danger is less directly on their heads, as it is women who would be the ones to become pregnant should a birth control method fail. Also, men have reported that although they are excited about the possibility of a hormonal method of birth control for men in the general sense, that they would be reluctant to take it themselves. The possibility of side effects, like those women sometimes experience with hormonal birth control, has scared some men away from the prospect. Also, there is a fear that hormonal birth control for men could reduce overall condom use rates, and thus increase the spread of STIs.
Despite these possible problems with male hormonal birth control, I feel that the potential for sharing the responsibility of pregnancy prevention more equally between partners is a great benefit. Even if the "male pill" doesn't become a reality, partners should still be working together to share the job of birth control between them.
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