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The Future of Men's Birth Control
The Male pill is a colloquial term for a male oral contraceptive. Various male pills have been in development since the 1960s but none are yet available for public consumption in the United States.
One variation of the male pill functions similarly to the female oral contraceptive known colloquially as the Pill: both use synthetic hormones to alter the body's chemical balance and prevent the maturation of gametes, so that the woman does not ovulate (though she may still menstruate) and the man's semen does not contain sperm. Unlike the female pill, the male pill packs may not contain placebos since the male reproductive system is not cyclical in nature. Furthermore, all known substances that inhibit spermatogenesis (such as gossypol)can inflict unacceptable side effects including a decrease in facial hair and a loss of sex drive, resulting in the male pill's continued unavailability. The plant Tripterygium wilfordii is also under study as a promising candidate source for chemical (instead of hormonal) contraceptive.
Another variation on the male pill, currently under development, would block the Cs protein which is responsible for the growth of a sperm cell's flagella or tail. Using this method, sperm will still be created by the body, but will be unable to travel, and will thus be unable to cause impregnation.
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