By Karla Reyes

Staff Writer

After years of research, the concept of a male contraceptive pill has been revisited for

commercial purposes.

Although most will argue that a male contraceptive is not required, studies show that half of

pregnancies are still unplanned, thus there is a need for a third option. Fellow students gave their

opinion on the issue.

In the 1950s, researchers tested “WIN” ( a control contraceptive drug) on male prisoners and

found success. However, when the drug was tested on the general public, it had severe side

effects triggered by the consumption of alcohol and therefore was taken off the market.

Currently research is focusing on a way to disrupt the maturation of sperm in the testes, to

decrease chance of fertilization. However, according to Science Mag, finding a method that is

effective, safe, cheap, well-tolerated, bioavailable, easy-to-manufacture, side-effect-free and

completely reversible male pill is the challenge. Right now the objective is to develop a version

of the 1950’s “WIN,” that encompasses all the mentioned factors.

“I wouldn’t take it, personally because I am really skeptical of new products like that

because they can end up having unintended, serious consequences. I think it’s an

interesting idea,” CSUSM student, Clark Conforti, said.

“I totally support the idea and the implementation because there are almost no options

for male birth control [other than condoms] while women have a few to chose from, but

there are so many steps in the research process during drug development that I would

most likely wait a few years after it’s been on the market to see if there are any other side

effects,” CSUSM student, Nick Allen, said.

Alex Williams, another CSUSM student, agreed. “I don’t have a lot of information about

the use of male contraceptives, but I wouldn’t be interested in using it, even if it were

available to me. I would stick to using condoms safely to prevent pregnancy,” he said.

Overall it seems men would be interested, so long as there is more information about the the

delayed side effects, overall safety and the only way to ensure that would be with time. Although

promising, the research has been stumped in the early testing stages and more costly human

trials.