Scientists Have Successfully Tested Male Contraceptive Pill, And It Will Be In Market Soon

Birth control is important, mostly because you don't want to be dealing with a pregnancy when you're not ready for it.

Unfortunately, the brunt of that burden is on women. That's no more, as scientists believe they're closer to putting a male contraceptive pill on the market.

The pill was developed by researchers from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Washington. It's a mixture of testosterone and progestin and, taken once per day, has proven to reduce a male's fertility levels considerably. Now, the researchers have also confirmed it's safe to use.

Recent human trials had the 30 healthy males between 18 to 50 years old taking the pills for 28 consecutive days. At the same time, 10 other men were given a placebo as a control group. Though the drug has proven to help prevent pregnancies, they wanted to know if taking them regularly can lead to hormonal imbalances or other side effects. Remarkably, these only had minor side effects like fatigue, acne, and headaches.

According to co-lead researcher Christina Wang, it'll be another 10 years before such a drug can hit the market. In the meantime, further tests are needed, and then it needs to be approved by regulators. But when that does happen, it'll be a much needed update to birth control.

Until now, the onus of birth control has been largely on women. As far as reversible methods are concerned, men only have condoms, whereas women have options like pills, shots, and more. Aside from providing some gender equality to the process, Wang and her co-lead researcher Stephanie Page say, it'll mean women alone won't have to deal with the side effects and financial responsibilities of contraception.

Just imagine, you and your partner could eventually take turns every few months, handling the contraception you need.