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The World Health Organization has predicted that new contraceptives for men could become available within just three to five years, in a development being hailed as a “game changer.” Those hailing this as a breakthrough risk further separating sex from its potential consequences and encouraging a more casual attitude towards sexual relationships—something that imperils the unborn.
Dr James Kiarie, head of the WHO’s contraception and fertility care unit, said he expects at least one new method to become available by around 2029 to 2031.
“In three to five years, we will actually have a method available,” he said, allowing men to become contraceptive users themselves rather than merely supporting female partners.
The WHO has now published its first Target Product Profiles for male contraceptives, establishing desired standards for future products and signalling that their development is a priority for the organisation.
Several radically different methods are being developed. The most advanced include NES/T, a hormonal gel applied daily to the shoulders and upper arms to suppress sperm production, and experimental hydrogels designed to block sperm from travelling through the vas deferens (sperm duct).
Researchers are also trialling YCT-529, a non-hormonal contraceptive pill for men. Early human studies have so far focused primarily on safety and pharmacological effects rather than establishing contraceptive effectiveness in ordinary use.
None of these methods, however, can eliminate the possibility of pregnancy. Their eventual real-world effectiveness will depend on the particular product and, for user-controlled methods such as pills or gels, correct and consistent use.
That matters when assessing the progressive claims that another contraceptive revolution will necessarily reduce abortion.
Making contraception increasingly convenient reinforces a culture in which sex is separated from the notion of pregnancy. No contraceptive method is infallible, and when pregnancy nevertheless occurs, abortion can become the perceived solution to a child who was being so intentionally avoided.
Using an experimental drug that a) effects fertility and b) is not failsafe would be foolish and would endanger any children that are made when the medicine fails. Portraying contraception simply as risk-free liberation ignores the behavioural consequences that can accompany perceived protection from pregnancy: callousness and carelessness.
The WHO nevertheless sees considerable demand. A survey of 14,000 European men found that 69% of male Brits would be willing to take hormonal contraceptives that interfere with sperm production.
SPUC’s Executive Director Michael Robinson has commented on the news: “The WHO’s excitement shows the true colours of the organisation. They have been trying to force abortion and contraception on every corner of the world and are foaming at the mouth that a new opportunity to do that has arisen. They claim that access to contraception will reduce abortions and liberate women; history has proven that to be demonstrably false.”
He continued, “Our culture is contraceptive because we have demonised children as an inconvenience and a burden—that’s why we kill so many too. They are neither an inconvenience nor a burden. As a father of five, mine have given me the greatest joy and fulfilment. British men need to stop trying to prevent or kill something so good. We need to become a nation of families again. A new generation of pills and gels will only hinder us in reaching that goal.”
