Hormonal birth control for men may soon become a reality

Hormonal birth control for men will likely soon become a reality as an international clinical trial conducted to test the effectiveness of certain hormonal contraceptive shots for men has produced promising results.

In the global trial, the researcher found that the hormonal contraceptive shots successfully suppressed sperm production in roughly 96 per cent of male volunteers who completed the study.

After the trial wrapped up, more than 75 per cent of the male volunteers said that they would be willing to keep on receiving the shots as their foremost method of contraception.

However, the World Health Organization’s Dr. Mario Philip Reyes Festin stressed that there is a need to do more research on Hormonal birth control for men.

Commenting on the topic, Festin said, “More research is needed to advance this concept to the point that it can be made widely available to men as a method of contraception. Although the injections were effective in reducing the rate of pregnancy, the combination of hormones needs to be studied more to consider a good balance between efficacy and safety.”

Researchers across the globe have been experimenting with hormonal contraceptive for men for decades, but no safe and reliable product could be developed thus far. Currently, men’s only options for birth control are withdrawal, condoms and vasectomy.