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by Stephanie Watson

Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this How Stuff Works article:

Watson, Stephanie. "How the Male Birth-control Pill Will Work." 09 July 2005. HowStuffWorks.com. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/male-bc-pill.htm> 06 July 2008.

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The Future of the Male Birth-control Pill

If a male birth-control pill does become a reality, two big questions surround its possible use:

Will men take it?
Will women trust them to take it?

Studies so far indicate that the answer to both questions is "yes." In a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, two-thirds of American men said they would be willing to try the new pill. And in an international study of 4,000 men and women, more than two-thirds of the men said they would use a birth-control pill if it were available, and 75 percent of the women said they would trust their partner to handle the birth control [ref].

Just as the female birth-control pill had wide-ranging implications, the male pill could change the way men engage in sexual relationships. Health experts fear that the use of the pill among men who are not in monogamous relationships could reduce condom use and increase the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases.

But men probably won't have to worry about any of this for a few more years. Of all the male birth-control methods being investigated, the hormonal method is closest to reality, say researchers, and that's still a ways off. They estimate that a testosterone/progestogen birth-control drug should be available to men in about five years, but it will most likely come in the form of an injection or implant, rather than a pill. As for a male contraceptive drug in pill form, the future is more uncertain.

For more information on the future of birth control and related topics, check out the links on the next page.

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