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.