– We are always hearing about breakthroughs in male birth control but I never seem to hear about it again. Why is this? Is there a reason why multiple different forms of male birth control never seem to materialize for sale?

Question

– We are always hearing about breakthroughs in male birth control but I never seem to hear about it again. Why is this? Is there a reason why multiple different forms of male birth control never seem to materialize for sale?

In: Biology

Answer 1

In general, it is because there are real and significant risks of pregnancy in women—so the risks of contraceptives are less than the risks of pregnancy. There are exceptions, like when a doctor tells a patient that a certain method of contraception is not appropriate, but in general, no amount of weight gain, low level blood clot risk, etc is going to be more than the risks of pregnancy. The same cannot be said for men. So when they encounter a risk the drug ends up being much much harder to get though FDA approval.