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Men offered $1,300 to test male birth control pill

Paying men to help test a male contraceptive pill is one thing, but getting them to spend that money on purchasing it might be another.
By Bryan Nelson
Fri, Nov 06 2009 at 10:11 PM EST
Read more: HEALTH, RESEARCH & INNOVATION, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

BIRTH CONTROL PILLS: Can men be trusted to take them? (Photo: KelliAmanda/Flickr)
Researchers at the University of Washington may now be only five years away from engineering the Holy Grail of birth control research: a male contraceptive pill. Once developed, the pill could drastically lessen the weight of social responsibility currently placed solely on women and their bodies.
 
Unfortunately, finding men brave enough to man-up to that responsibility is proving a bit more difficult. So difficult, in fact, that UW researchers have had to resort to paying men $1,300 each just to test the new product.
 
It's enough to raise the question: If men have to be paid to test the male birth control pill, can they be trusted to purchase it once the product is available in stores? And perhaps more importantly, can men be relied upon to take the pill once it's been bought?
 
These questions may be loaded with cynical, status-quo stereotypes, but they also raise some legitimate social thought experiments worth considering.
 
As Seattle Weekly points out, the issue of birth control was much simpler for women. When the pill was developed nearly a half century ago, it empowered women, giving them the ability to make their own reproductive decisions. Women, after all, already carry the sole burden of childbirth. Shouldering the choice of conception is therefore as much a right as it is a responsibility, and the pill was the arbiter of that right.
 
But for men, the cost-benefit analysis is considerably different. And when pressed, most women are reluctant to cede reproductive power to their male partners anyway: 76 percent of young women believe they are more responsible than men when it comes to birth control, according to a new study.
 
Is it a gender stereotype, a woman's intuition, or just plain common sense? Regardless, it is women's bodies which are ultimately at risk one way or another when it comes to contraception.
 
And the UW study isn't the first time researchers have had a difficult time motivating men to help out with the responsbility of birth control. A similar trial done by Chinese researchers had a startling 30 percent of their male subjects fail to complete the study, many of whom simply lost their motivation (a painful monthly shot in the butt didn't help, either).
 
None of this is to say that there is no market for a male birth control pill; the development of one would certainly be more advantageous than detrimental. Men involved in committed, secure relationships would hopefully harbor the motivation to share in the responsibility of birth control, either out of genuine care or in cases where their partner's body may react poorly to hormonal treatment.
 
Still, the inevitable breakthrough and development of a male birth control pill may cause less of a shift in gender responsibility than some have proclaimed. When it comes to asking men to fork over that $1,300 instead, the pill may not be quite so easy to swallow.


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Comments(7)

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Posted By John - Mon, Jan 04 2010 at 5:40 PM EST

Anyone.??

Has anyone ever gotten a response to the comments and actually tested the pill for 1,300 dollars.!! Let me know javiergonzo86@gmail

Posted By vic - Fri, Dec 18 2009 at 4:54 AM EST

its about time men have a choice too

I'm 50 years old and recently divorced..I have ten kids and don't want to have anymore its time to enjoy my grandkids..i would love to be able to have a choice of whether i want anymore kiddos..i feel its mens responsibilty too..I would love to test a male birth control product for free...and believe me i would have no problem taking it everyday..i want to participate in this trial

Posted By Jason - Sat, Dec 12 2009 at 5:28 AM EST

$1,300 to test the pill?

First off, I'd test the pill for free! They'd just have to mail it to me! Second, if they want to pay me $1,300 to test it I'll take the money and use it to buy the pill once it's officially on the market! Not having to worry if my gf is taking her pill or if some woman tells me it's "ok" and "not to worry" takes the biggest worry of my mind! PLEASE sign me up!

Posted By Gabriel - Tue, Dec 08 2009 at 2:22 AM EST

Free tester here

I have been waiting for this. I am 28 and willing to be in the study.
diver2001paf@yahoo.com

Posted By Anonymous - Sat, Nov 28 2009 at 6:57 PM EST

1300?

I think the question is what guy wouldnt do it for free

Posted By Anthony - Thu, Nov 19 2009 at 12:25 AM EST

Free

I would do it for free!! In fact, i took part in the studies for the testosterone/progestim gel combo birth control studies. Sign me up!!!!

Ertony@sbcglobal.net
-26 year old in search of some control of my future!

Posted By james walker - Wed, Nov 18 2009 at 3:20 PM EST

Men offered $1,300 to test male birth control pill

does anyone know how to take part in this trial, I would do it for free.
james_walker30@yahoo.com

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