- cross-posted to:
- science@mander.xyz
- technology@lemmy.zip
- cross-posted to:
- science@mander.xyz
- technology@lemmy.zip
A gel injected into the scrotum could be the next male contraceptive::Biotech company Contraline has safely implanted a sperm-blocking hydrogel in 23 men. It’s designed to be a fully reversible vasectomy.
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Vaselgel is too cheap to manufacture to get the funding it needs to bring it to market, that’s why they have been trying for 20 years and haven’t succeeded yet. In the US the rights are owned by a non profit Parsemu Foundation formed to fund it. It looks like their private partner NEXT Life Sciences is actually set to come to market with a vaselgel product in 2026 they are calling Plan A.
Interesting marketing choice comparing it to the Plan B pill.
If Plan A works, you don’t need Plan B… 😄
I think that was always the point of the name. this would just be a new plan A.
I thought they were implying something misogynist about women’s ability to plan and how the women’s plan will be considered only if the man’s fails first. Maybe that’s the way to get sex ed to where it’s needed though, “the first anti-woke birth control, putting the control back where it should be.” Wouldn’t be surprised in today’s America. /s
From what I’m reading, they’re not set to go to market; that’s just their goal. Most recent article I found was middle of last year that they had raised more money and were hoping to go to human trials by the end of the year. That aligns with what I remember about Vasalgel from years ago - they had finally made it to monkey trials but their monkey study was not showing a consistent ability to return to virility with the second injection. I seem to remember the proposed reason being that vas deferens in the monkeys/apes they were testing with are actually more delicate than humans’ and so humans should still likely be reversible. Last I heard, I believe they were trying to move forward on the human trial of proving that it works as a contraceptive, to be followed by a human trial showing reversibility. Then radio silence and funding issues. My assumption has always been that they struggled to jump to human trials because of the primate study results hurting the likelihood of reversibility. Hopefully they have reworked it to solve that, or maybe the acquisition and new funding is enough to just push through that regardless and see if humans will be fine.
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A vasectomy in my twenties was the best decision I ever made.
10/10, would snip, tie and burn again.
If something like this had been about I’d have had it done at 21 rather than my wife fucking up her hormones with the pill for a few years before we ended up getting the permanent snip.
It’s just so damn expensive
Cheaper than a kid!
Covered by public health care where I am. Just mentioning this as a reminder to look into it wherever you live before assuming it’s expensive.
£500 well spent. Though I’m still annoyed that my local NHS trust wouldn’t fund it.
For me its something like 2500 in the private hospital because public system doctors will refuse to do it if you are “young” and have no kids
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I gave up on waiting for this tech to become available and just got a vasectomy.
RIP.
It’s not really a big loss in my own personal experience. I kept hearing about reversible male contraceptive technologies “just on the horizon” from my early 20’s and I would have preferred getting a reversible procedure if such a thing had been available sooner, but when I turned age 35 and this tech still hadn’t seen the light of day, I asked myself if it being reversible was really such an important factor. I knew by that point that I never wanted to have any kids, and any future partner I would be with would need to be on the same page as me at a minimum, so I just went ahead and got it done while I was still in my sexual prime so I could enjoy the years I have left.
They are going to need to work on their sales pitch…
Meanwhile, BDSM practitioners are thinking “two birds with one stone (to the nuts)”
Hot sexy babe will inject gel into your scrotum.
It’s the only way I can finish.
More options are great I suppose, but as a gem-xer I don’t get the modern revolt against the condom. Modern condoms are pretty damn thin / good and are a form of male birth control with bonus of very good disease prevention, have next to no side effects, and minimize messes too.
Modern?
Has it increased in some way over time? I think men not wanting to wear condoms because of how they feel is a tale as old as the condom itself.
I think for those that have grown up with porn in their palms it is different yes. Admittedly that’s my impression and that of my peer group. I’m not aware of data on the matter.
Condoms suck for everyone involved
That’s an interesting generalization. I’m going to to count myself out of everyone then.
IMO for anyone in a stable monoamorous relationship, the IUD is the superior option, as long as the female partner is a good fit for it and doesn’t have complications from it.
My wife had significant issues with hers, including basically never-ending spotting and occasional surprise periods, cramps, mood issues, etc. She had it removed after 2 years.
I’m thinking a vasectomy is the next thing, but it isn’t covered on my insurance and finding a doctor is intimidating.
There’s no harm in condom + anything else considering all the horror stories of condoms accidentally/intentionally not working.
This gives another option that sounds pretty easy and not very invasive for anyone.
There are horror stories for everything. There are also statistics. If you prefer horror stories to the latter there is nothing you shouldn’t fear.
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It looks promising, even though it is quite far away from becoming available to the general public.
Still I wish that there was more of a push for something like a contraceptive pill for men. It feels like it has been ignored for years and only now they are starting a bit with development and trials…
I don’t think it’s been ignored. Birth control pills for men would be a massive money maker. (Here is a recent article I found on BC for men: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/male-contraceptive-disables-sperm)
While I am speaking way outside my confort zone here, it seems magnitudes harder to effectively disable millions of sperm and their associated production as opposed to simply knocking a woman’s hormone balance a little out of whack to prevent ovulation.
The bigger question is being ignored though: If we have to inject our scrotum with a gel, where are we going to store our pee???
We’ll just have to pee out of our butts like girls do.
Unfortunately there has to be almost no side effects for almost all users, as there are no (as yet) medical benefits to male contraception.
In women, not being pregnant can prevent death for some of them, regulate painful periods, etc. - it is considered the risk of the myriad side effects is worth it because at least it does some good.
For men, who do not become pregnant, not being able to get someone else pregnant is not a medical benefit for the man.
And unfortunately hormonal modification does cause problems. Lots of them.
Tbh I would call suicide prevention a health benefit. Have you seen the prices of gestures wildly
How many men are committing suicide because they got someone pregnant? Feel like having women fall down stairs or just being an absentee father seems to be the preferred action…
These reversable, injectable, male contraceptives have been promised for at least 5 years, when will they come to market?
A lot longer than that unfortunetly
Edit: Found an older link
I’ve been seeing promises about a new male contraceptive for more than a decade now. They never seem to hit the shelves form some reason.
Probably not a very big market.
I would certainly never use anything more than a condom.
Then hopefully you don’t expect women to take birth control or have an IUD.
This turns the scrotum into a stress ball.
TSA:what are you hiding sir.
Me:nothing : o.
TSA:(Boink! Boink!)sir stop resisting! This is standard procedure.(Boink! Boink!)
RISUG has been in promised for what, nearly a decade now? This has been the FSD/Star Citizen of the male contraceptive world, always right around the corner.
Yeah. I got tired of their promises that it’s only a year or two away like 7 years ago.
Been trying this for 2 decades
Is this not the exact same thing as vasalgel? How is this new or different?
Not sure, this seems to be exactly what vasalgel is. At first, I thought the innovation was that they just squirt this stuff into your sack and call it a day, and that would have been different. But nope! Same injection site too. Maybe it’s more effective or something.
Contraline’s method involves making a small piercing in the scrotum and using a handheld injector to push the hydrogel through a catheter that’s connected to the vas deferens. The catheter is then taken out, and the puncture heals on its own.
That sounds like a bit more than just an injection. Not quite like going in for a flu shot to the nuts
As a man, I always laugh when I see other men excited about the prospect of becoming sterile.
I don’t get the joke.
No one does. Them thinking it’s funny is because of their own ignorance.
Can you explain why? Some people don’t want to have kids. Why should the onus fall on only women with birth control and IUDs? More options for male contraceptives are a good thing.
