Contents:
- Medical Video: Birth Control Pills
- Choice of contraception for men
- Are there hormonal contraceptives for men?
- Are there other methods of contraception for men?
- What are the benefits of hormonal methods and contraceptive drugs for men?
- However, what are the disadvantages of hormonal contraceptive methods for men?
Medical Video: Birth Control Pills
Maybe you are planning to delay having children in the near future. What can be done to delay pregnancy in a married couple is to do family planning using contraception. One program carried out in almost all countries, including Indonesia, is a family planning program. In this program the most emphasized is how a family or husband and wife can plan a pregnancy, determine how many children they want and the distance between pregnancies.
In Indonesia alone, this family planning program has been implemented since 1970. In addition to reducing the population growth rate this program is recommended for couples who aim to make an ideal family and maintain the health of mothers and children. According to data from the Ministry of Health, there are at least 75.88% of active family planning coverage in Indonesia. Of these figures, as many as 59.3% of married women use modern family planning methods, namely using birth control pills, implants, injections, and IUDs.
Until now, in addition to condoms, women who usually use contraceptives. Then what about men? Are there hormonal contraceptives for men that effectively prevent pregnancy? Are contraceptives safe for male reproductive health?
READ ALSO: Morning-After Pill, Emergency Contraception Preventing Pregnancy
Choice of contraception for men
Until now, contraceptives that can only be used by men are only condoms. Condoms function to prevent sperm from entering the vagina, so fertilization cannot occur. In addition to condoms, there are also methods of contraception for men that can be done at this time, namely a vasectomy or medical procedure that causes sperm to stop being produced, and usually this is permanent.
Because of these limitations, many studies have tried to build and make safe and healthy contraceptive methods for men. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Connected to Eastern Virginia Medical School, United States (CONRAD) conduct large-scale research on contraception for men using hormones. The research was conducted in seven countries at once and tested whether effective use of hormones can prevent conception.
READ ALSO: Various Sperm Disorders that Affect Fertility
Are there hormonal contraceptives for men?
In this study, participants were given injections of testosterone and progesterone synthesized (not natural progesterone) every 8 weeks. Then the researchers plan to see their effectiveness in one more year. However, the research stopped before the target was reached due to reasons for possible side effects and disrupt the health of the respondents.
But it turned out that before this study was conducted, clinical studies in Australia had also been conducted involving 55 men who were studied for 1 year. The group of men implanted testosterone implants under his skin for 4 months and were given injections of the hormone progesterone synthetically for 3 months.
The results obtained were indeed no pregnancy in the male partner. Though all these couples have a level of arousal for normal sexual relations. For now it is not possible to do hormonal contraception in men. However, along with the development of the medical world. research is continuing. It is not impossible in the future or later this contraception really can be applied to men.
READ ALSO: Beware, 3 Contraception Methods Are Not Effective To Prevent Pregnancy
Are there other methods of contraception for men?
WHO and CONRAD actually conducted experiments related to non-hormonal contraception for men. Some of these methods are still in formation and developed. But broadly speaking, they are developing several types of non-hormonal contraceptives. One method is to target changes in the movement of sperm, so that sperm become slower but can still be produced and do not change the quality of sperm.
What are the benefits of hormonal methods and contraceptive drugs for men?
There are several benefits if men use hormone therapy as a contraceptive device, namely:
- Hormone therapy is a therapy that is considered safe enough to do because it is reversible or can return to its original state, does not cause permanent infertility in men.
- It can be an alternative way of contraception in men, when compared to vasectomy - that is to remove parts of a man's sexual organs so that they can no longer produce sperm - then this method is safer and more effective.
- This contraception will be a way out for couples where their women cannot do contraception on their own for health reasons.
READ ALSO: 10 Proven Things That Can Damage Sperm
However, what are the disadvantages of hormonal contraceptive methods for men?
Deficiencies that may arise if a man uses contraception as follows:
- Contraceptive methods with hormones cannot protect a person from transmitting sexual diseases.
- Requires a long time to do this hormone therapy
- 1 in 25 people who use this method may not be able to produce sperm again, although it can still produce sperm after doing therapy, but the amount is not as much when before doing hormone therapy.
- It takes a long time, maybe years to find out what impact this method can have.
