Two-thirds of men questioned in an international survey said they would use a male Pill if it were available, and nearly all the women questioned said they would trust their partners to take it. The findings are published today (Wednesday 23 February) in the journal Human Reproduction.*
In contrast to women, the choice of contraception for men is very limited, currently comprising only condoms or vasectomy. But new developments taking place in hormonal methods of contraception for men make it likely that a male pill will be available within the next 5 to10 years.
In anticipation of a male contraceptive pill, research teams from Edinburgh, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Cape Town carried out two surveys among nearly 4,000 men and women in the four cities to determine:
* would men use such a hormonal methods of contraception?
* would women trust their partners to take it?
Among the 2,000 men questioned, the majority in all centres would welcome a new method and two-thirds said they would use it if it were available. There were cultural differences in acceptability but even in the most conservative centre (Hong Kong), nearly half would use it. The survey also demonstrated that men were keen to have a greater involvement in the responsibility for contraception and took into account their partner's needs.
"The majority of men felt that responsibility for contraception falls too much on women and we found that the strongest incentive for men to use the Pill would be their partners' wishes," said Dr Richard Anderson, clinical scientist at the MRC Reproductive Biology Unit in Edinburgh and a member of the Edinburgh research team.
While men may be willing to use a pill, many critics of the concept have suggested that women would not trust their partners to take it reliably, leaving them both literally and metaphorically holding the baby. For this reason 2,000 women in the same centres were asked their views of the male pill. Over 80% were in favour.
Three-quarters of Scottish, Chinese and white South African women thought that men would be prepared to use the method and even in the more conservative black and coloured South African population 40% agreed their partners would probably use it. Only 2% said they would not trust their partners to take it.
"The idea of hormonal contraception for men appears to be extremely popular among women and this survey should dispel once and for all the myth that women would not trust their partners to use a male pill," said Dr Anderson.
The surveys did reveal some concerns, with men in all the centres viewing a three month time lapse before a method became effective as a disadvantage, while a minority of others expressed some fears that a hormonal method might lessen masculinity or affect sexual desire or satisfaction.
The researchers concluded that although the answers to a survey of a hypothetical methods will not accurately predict, in practice, how many couples will use male contraception, it demonstrates that a male pill would be the choice for a significant number of couples throughout the world.
*Potential impact of hormonal contraception: cross-cultural implications for development of novel preparations. Human Reproduction. C.W. Martin et al. Vol. 15 pp 637-645.
*Would women trust their partners to use a male pill? Human Reproduction. A.F. Glasier et al. Vol. 15 pp 646-649.
Notes:
1. Full embargoed text of the papers with participating research teams and detailed breakdown of results by country can be found from 21 March on website:
http://www3.oup.co.uk/eshre/press-release/march.pdf
2. Human Reproduction is a monthly journal of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Please acknowledge Human Reproduction as a source.
3. The above studies were supported by the Medical Research Council, the Department for International Development and the Scottish Home and Health Department.
4. Printed text available on request from Dr Helen Beard, deputy editor: Tel: +44 (0) 1954 212404 or email: b54@dial.pipex.com
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Journal
Human Reproduction