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Comment by solarmist | Hacker News Reader

The world has been promising male birth control for decades now and the techniques (There are several that all work at almost 100% and are fully reversible) are proven (numerous long term trials, I can think of two from a decade ago off the top of my head, one in Washington state and one in Australia, in their final stages, with fewer side-effects, complications and failures than female birth control) and much more effective than female birth control (100% in most cases). I've been reading about it actively since I was 15 and now I'm 30 and I'm still reading about how it's 5 years away. I want this so bad it hurts, but no one is bringing it to market.

The problem is there isn't (enough of?) an incentive to actually put out these treatments. I guess the money just doesn't compare to female birth control.

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The problem is there isn't (enough of?) an incentive to actually put out these treatments. I guess the money just doesn't compare to female birth control

One issue is that public health authorities are (probably quite legitimately) concerned that improved male birth control methods will lead to a decrease in the use of condoms and an increase in STDs.

Aside from the STD issue, a condom is a contraception method that is instantly verifiable. "It's okay baby, I have had the invisible sperm destroying procedure" is a bit harder to check.

Why are women on the pill any more trust worthy? I've known women who say they're on the pill just because they didn't wanna use/buy condoms. Surprise, surprise I now know people that have kids that probably shouldn't.

Also, condom misuse is a big problem in general and is the cause of the low rate of success for condoms 85% vs proper use 98%. The people that need condoms the most (uneducated/young people) are the ones that just throw them on without making sure they know how to properly use them.

What is "proper" condom use?

Honest question, as I pretty much just roll a condom on... Is there more to it?

You didn't get the banana demonstration in high school?

For instance, If you don't leave a reservoir at the tip, it increases the possibility that the condom will break.

There's that tiny reservoir at the tip of the rubber already just for that: you really have to work hard to pull it so tight that the reservoir itself gets stretched all over the tip of your penis.

Yeah, well, you'd be amazed at the mistakes people will make without proper instruction.

The bigger problem is that it can capture air as the condom is being put on. The pressure from that captured air increases the risk of breakage. Ergo, 'proper' application involves pinching the reservoir tip as the condom is being rolled on.

Well, one other tip would be - hold it on when you ahem pull out. You don't want any spillage.

Also, make sure you use the right size. If it's too tight or too loose - increased risk of breakage or leakage.

Ok, now I'm a bit weirded out by myself. I'm a woman, so I guess I'm deeply invested in proper condom usage.

Deeply invested indeed. Just make sure you've got a clean exit strategy though!

Adding to other comments. Make sure it didn't break. You can try blowing air inside to see. If it broke use an emergency contraceptive.

I'd be a lot more on board with this suggestion if it didn't involve... blowing into a used condom.

Yeah. As far as I'm concerned, kids should be taught to always use two redundant forms of birth control. No one form of (temporary) birth control has (afaik) higher than 98% success rate even when used perfectly.

It's worth noting what those percentages mean. They report percentages that mean that 1-n% of couples who use it as their sole birth control method for a year get pregnant. So 98% doesn't mean you get pregnant 1/50 times.

98% still isn't great (if you think about it, it means you're fairly likely to have 1 unwanted pregnancy in your life if you always use a 98% effective method), but it's a lot better than how it sounds to people who don't know what those percentages mean.

Really? Well, crap. I wish I'd known that years ago, it would have saved me a whole bunch of worrying.

Wow, these women are the height of irresponsibility.

Here's my theory about why people think that women are more responsible for birth control.

1. They are more directly affected by pregnancy. They are the ones who would have to bear the child or to have an abortion. Abortions are not fun. Vacuuming your uterus is probably not a pleasant experience. Of course, I'm being somewhat flippant. I do think that women who have foresight and intelligence are responsible human beings who try to have children only when they want to. Of course, there are cultural and socioeconomic issues at play here. I"m not trying to suggest that men are not affected by children, but they don't need to bear the physical consequences. So birth control is more of an abstract conception for men. Although they bear the financial consequences...sometimes.

2. The idea that women are more responsible in general. Of course, this is a terrible and misguided stereotype. I know many irresponsible women (One similar to your story - she has two kids now.)If women seem more responsible, it's probably because society teaches women to be responsible and risk-averse from birth.

EDIT: for grammar and formatting.

The height of irresponsibility here is women who claim to be on the pill because they actually want kids, but to afford that they have to "oops" some guy who doesn't. This, and paternity fraud, are what make male birth control important.

Check the scars. Perhaps a photo ID card certifying your procedure is in order. What a way to pick up chicks!

Maybe, but that's a social issue not an FDA (in the US) issue, it shouldn't (ideally) hold up approval. (But it will.)

Every time male birth control is brought up all these same (social) issues get touted about. Women won't trust guys that say they're on the "pill", STDs will become rampant, etc. But they are by no means unique, every new treatment(in a new area) has social issues to begin with, but they usually turn out to be overblown once it becomes accepted.

Holding back progress in one area as leverage to try and force it in another is nearly always a bad way to go. STD's and unwanted children are both problems. If we can fix one of those we should absolutely do it.

Exactly.

If enough people want it, and they will, there is incentive.

But apparently not enough to bring it to market. This is just another example of a male birth control that won't even make it to clinical trials in the G8 nations for another two decades at a minimum.

Are people just that much more skittish about messing with male birth control that it needs 10x the evidence of female birth control before it comes to market, or have government agencies just gotten that much more strict/paranoid?

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