In 1960, the female contraceptive was invented; soon after its emergence, there was a great sexual “revolution” in the world, because, after all, women started to have the power to decide when (or not) to get pregnant. This gave them more (and greater) opportunities in life, including in relation to their own bodies.
But it is necessary to see the other side of the coin, as in practically everything in life: female contraceptives have several side effects for women. That's why it was necessary to think about evolutions so that each woman could find the type of medicine that best suits her body, such as the pill, the patch, the IUD and the chip, which are the contraceptive methods that exist today.
And now, after nearly six decades, the male contraceptive, injectable contraceptive developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with the medical schools of the United States and Germany, has finally been invented.
The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, was designed according to the one-year study of 320 men aged between 18 and 45 men. Men were recruited from different locations: Germany, United States, Australia, Indonesia, Chile and India.
During the study period, participants received two injections of hormones (progestin and testosterone) and every eight weeks. The combination was chosen because high-dose testosterone, combined with progestin, slows sperm production for a few weeks, according to the researchers.
Among those studied, 274 (86%) had a sperm count of less than one million per ml of semen after six months of using the injections. That is, enough count to be considered contraceptive - according to the National Infertility Association of the United States, the normal sperm count varies between 40 and 300 million per ml of semen.
Only four pregnancies occurred during the year the study took place, leading to a failure rate of 7,5%. This percentage is considered satisfactory, since the failure rate for male condoms is 12% and for female contraceptives, 9% – data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Until then, everything was perfect. The problem, however, lies in the side effects that the injections caused. Although the contraceptive results of the technique were satisfactory, many participants were diagnosed with depression, mood disorders, among other side effects. Therefore, the study was stopped.
In total, 1.500 cases of side effects were reported during the 56-week study. The men studied reported acne (46% of men), pain at the injection site (23%), increased libido, mood disturbances, emotional problems, hostility, as well as depression and aggression.
In addition, other concerns surround the study. As the research was conducted on men with regular sperm counts, it is not known what the injections could cause in men who already have low sperm counts. In addition, there is also the fear that there will be a decrease in the use of conventional condoms, the only preventive method of sexually transmitted diseases.
However, it is worth remembering that the marketing of a male contraceptive would give women the freedom to choose whether or not to take female contraceptive pills (which, in fact, have hundreds of other side effects much worse than those indicated by men in the research, such as thrombosis, and yet they are marketed).
It would also make the division of responsibility between the couple more fair. Until today, when a pregnancy occurs, the responsibility for the act is often given only to the woman, but it was a choice of both (the man and the woman) not to use a condom during the act. Therefore, the responsibility must be divided. The male contraceptive would make that more palpable.
The great controversy that arose with the stoppage of studies was due to the reasons mentioned, because the side effects are not as dangerous as those of the female contraceptive pill, which is normally marketed.
Text written by Giovanna Frugis from the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team
