Had there been a male contraceptive pill in 1976, I probably wouldn\u2019t be here to write this. That was the year when, after my mum \u2013 may she rest in peace \u2013 had been on the pill for 12 years, health worries made her doctor tell her to come off it. \u201cShe said to the doctor, \u2018I\u2019ll get pregnant\u2019,\u201d my dad recalls. \u201cAnd within a very short while, she was.\u201d He explains, much to my discomfort, that although my parents switched to condoms, I was conceived because \u201csometimes you feel reckless\u201d. But if a male pill had existed, my dad says, he\u2019d definitely have used it.<\/p>\n
So why didn\u2019t it exist? It certainly wasn\u2019t because of a lack of scientific interest. Gregory Pincus, who co-invented the female contraceptive pill, first tested the same hormonal approach on men in 1957, and various hormonal and non-hormonal methods have been explored since. And although attitudes among those who might use a male pill were once thought to be a daunting obstacle, it\u2019s now clear that many men want a new option.<\/p>\n
Despite this, we\u2019re still waiting. Developing a method that men would accept has brought decades of frustration, yet researchers are as confident as they can be that they\u2019re close to overcoming the scientific barriers. But, crucially, drug makers\u2019 commitment to contraceptives has always been tentative, particularly when it comes to products for men \u2013 and today, the whole contraceptive industry is struggling. Now, the multimillion-dollar question seems to be: Who is actually going to make the male pill happen?<\/p>\n