For over a hundred years, birth control has fallen mostly to women. Now, new clinical trials in Canada and Australia are showing promise it could soon fall in a larger way to men as well.
NEXT Life Sciences, a reproductive healthcare company, says it has completed successful Canadian clinical trials of a new male birth control product called Plan A.
Plan A delivers a hormone-free hydrogel called Vasalgel through the tubes that transport sperm, to stop its flow.
The 20 male participants all performed well in the trial which wrapped up in June, according to the company.
“I think it’s a good step in the right direction when it comes to birth control and having more responsibility on both ends,” said Durham College student, Cailin Gillespie.
The Durham Region Sexual Health and Clinic’s birth control page currently provides information for eight methods of birth control, seven of which the responsibility falls on women. Only condom use is listed for men.
“I think there’s a real increase in the desire for men to be implicated in contraception,” said Dr. Catherine Rousseau, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Sherbrooke, Que., with a specialized field in complex contraception and family planning.
Rousseau says Plan A would apply to a sub-group of men and women including stable couples since it’s intended to be a long-term contraceptive.
Despite its promise, some people have questions and doubts.
Gillespie stressed the importance of ensuring the method is safe and effective but is concerned about how quickly it will come to market. She said this could provide men with more perspective about the worries women face using current methods of birth control.
In 1916, when Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S., the main responsibility of birth control has fallen on women due to a combination of biological, historical, cultural and economic factors.
In an article in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Canada (JOGC), research shows no single birth control method meets the needs of every woman and contraception options for men are still limited.
This makes it essential to continue to develop a wide range of new contraceptive methods.
“If we can share with the two partners, the mental charge, the financial aspect of it, the adverse effect of it, it will surely help a woman to be more confident,” said Rousseau.
NEXT Life Sciences expects Plan A to be available to the U.S. in 2026 once it receives FDA approval. Canada could then follow if the drug is approved by Health Canada.