Was in a discussion about this over dinner last night. My GF has like a dozen options: from pills, to implants and patches. I can either wear a condom or have surgery. I feel like there is always some male pill on the horizon that never manages to come. Why is it so hard to develop something for men but so easy for women?
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I am not a scientist.
The risks associated with female birth control (weight gain/loss, blood clots, etc) are compared against the risks of pregnancy, which has higher risks in every category.
The risks associated with male hormonal birth control (weight gain/loss, blood clots, mood swings, etc) are compared against your baseline, which is… not pregnancy.
So a male taking something that effects you hormonally has more risk than not taking that medication; where a female taking something that effects her hormonally but has *lower* risks than the result of not taking that medication (i.e. pregnancy) is a net benefit.
Say no hormonal BC is a 0 and a man’s risk taking it is a 5. Then say a woman’s risks of blood clots and all the etc in pregnancy is a 15 and the risks associated with the hormonal BC are a 5. Both risks come out to a 5, but a man would otherwise be at 0 and a woman would be at risk of a 15. So medical ethics determine the better choice is for men to not take the hormonal birth control.
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