Ruminations: Male Contraception -- Catching Up

"If it is successful, it could be an absolute game-changer, ensuring that contraception is a shared responsibility between couples. There has never been an option like this for men, ever."
"Initially, when I was approached about the trial I thought what sort of men want this done?"
"But we have been amazed. We opened up recruitment for this just on social media and the demand was so high we had to close the website down after two days. I was just incredibly fascinated by that. We had hundreds of men doing the screening, and we had to close it down."
"For example, some women after childbirth can’t have contraception for obvious reasons, but they may not want to have a child within a couple of years of having their previous one, and this would be a good option for them without them having to go on the pill."
"You could actually use various IVF techniques to extract sperm if somebody was desperate to have a child in that window when they were still theoretically not ejaculating any sperm."
“We are confident it is very safe. I guess the biggest risk is that it doesn’t work. But we are watching their semen analyses very regularly."
Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk, urologist, Epworth Freemasons Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

The implant being trialled could become a temporary, and scalpel-free, alternative to a traditional vasectomy.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

A first-time ever, long-lasting contraceptive for men is being tested at Epworth Freemasons Hospital, a contraceptive with a limited time-efficacy. The contraceptive is timed for a two-year effectiveness before a return to sperm being ejected as normal. The process sees a hydrogel injected into the sperm-carrying tubes, (vas deferens), Sperm is blocked from moving from the testes; the outcome is a type of temporary vasectomy. When two years have elapsed the hydrogel will have dissolved.

If desired, the treatment can be repeated. In the early-stages trial, four men have received the procedure of injection. Through the course of the trial, a total of 25 men will take part. Those participating will receive health checks and provide semen samples for the duration of the study meant to continue for a three-year period.

Vasectomies are more involved surgical procedures, a permanent method of stopping the supply of sperm to a man's semen.Considered 100 percent effective as a contraceptive, little risk is associated with the surgery that is known for its low risk of complications. Vasectomies can be reversed, in a procedure more complicated than the initial surgery. The reversal process can be costly and may, in the end, turn out to be ineffective.

Recent scientific breakthroughs are finally providing more options for men in their reproductive years as opposed to women carrying the burden of pregnancy prevention. A male birth control pill is soon to enter human trials, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota in a study focused on creating a male alternative to the longstanding female birth control pill. That formulation was 99 percent effective in the prevention of mice pregnancies.

In Australia another study is in the development stages of a contraceptive pill for men, with researchers at Monash University discovering that stinging nettle-leaf extract could possibly block a protein that controls the sperm's movement. A contraception that would emerge fully 70 years after the female contraception pill went into circulation.