Are we finally ready for a male contraceptive pill? The journalist and director Billie JD Porter thinks so. Her new documentary follows the scientists pioneering the first male contraceptive and the “guinea pig” men trialling it.
It comes at a time when pill use among British women is declining in favour of the implant or coil; the number of vasectomies is dropping; and many young people are giving up on dating entirely. Porter is no exception. “After the Epstein files and the CNN rape academy investigation, my main form of contraception is just being disgusted by men,” she says.
“Unprotected sex often means that the woman is making a sacrifice to benefit both parties,” she adds, “and men need to understand that.”
The tech is pretty much here. One pill, YCT529, blocks a vitamin A receptor in the testes to stop sperm production. Another, which works within half an hour of a man taking it, disables the soluble adenylyl cyclase protein that makes his sperm swim. There is even a sperm-suppressing gel that can be applied to a man’s shoulders.
“During market research some men had indicated that they associate taking a pill with being sick… so this gel can be easily folded into a daily routine” Porter says.
