One child is two.
However, today, the majority of women take sole responsibility for controlling their fertility and male contraception remains very marginal within couples.
Some advances are still emerging and, on Wednesday, American scientists announced that they had developed a non-hormonal contraceptive pill for men, with no significant side effects, and 99% effective in mice on which it was tested.
How does the non-hormonal pill work?
Unlike the hormonal pill which would act on testosterone, the pill developed by American scientists targets a protein, the alpha retinoic acid receptor (RAR-alpha).
The latter allows the action of retinoic acid, which plays an important role in cell growth, sperm formation and embryo development.
Here, the compound of the pill aims to directly block the action of the receptors, and therefore the production of sperm.
Administered to mice, the tablet made 99% of guinea pigs infertile under treatment.
It should then be tested on men at the end of 2022. “The researchers are thinking of a trial within five years, which seems optimistic to me”, tempers Vincent Hupertan, andrologist and sexologist.
What about male contraception?
In 2022, inequalities still persist.
The four methods offered to men, although reliable, which are condoms, vasectomy, thermal contraception and hormonal contraception, are still largely shunned.
If the first two are known to the general public, “the last two are less so”, notes Pierre Colin, co-founder of the association for the research and development of male contraception (Ardecom).
The thermal method, better known under the name of “heated briefs” or “testicular lift”, consists of “raising the temperature of the testicles using an undergarment”.
Only obligation: wear it at least 15 hours a day.
The other method, hormonal, consists of carrying out a weekly “injection of testosterone enanthate”.
However, the treatment should not exceed 18 months, specifies Vincent Hupertan, because beyond “the testicle will decrease in volume and we will witness testicular atrophy”.
Still on the hormonal level, no male contraceptive pill is currently on the market.
Why the hormonal pill for men has never seen the light of day?
According to the andrologist, the impossibility of marketing a male pill is mainly due to the difference between ovarian and testicular functioning.
If the ovaries work in consecutive cycles every month, the testicles work “in continuous flow”.
As the spermatogenesis cycle is approximately three months, "it will take an average of six months to achieve effectiveness in men", unlike the female pill which is effective immediately.
To put an end to the natural production of testosterone and thus stop the production of spermatozoa, it is necessary to supply testosterone exogenously.
And absorb “almost four times the normal dose”.
A quantity of hormones which would then be “much higher than that present in female contraceptive pills”.
Finally, the third obstacle to the birth of a male hormonal pill, the difficult absorption of testosterone by the body, which makes its effectiveness limited.
This new pill, a revolution?
“It can widen the choices,” rejoices Pierre Colin.
According to him, a hormone-free alternative could make it possible to democratize male contraception, “much like the copper IUD reassured some women compared to the hormonal IUD”.
That's why, for people opposed to hormones, there will "surely be a craze, even if we won't see it for at least five years".
The andrologist wishes to counterbalance this point of view.
"In reality, people will always be skeptical of drugs" and the ingestion of a product will remain the main concern, he believes.
Are men willing to share contraception?
For this to work, a fair alternation would be needed: "We could imagine that for a few years, the man would take contraception, then it would then be the turn of the woman", imagines Pierre Colin.
According to a CSA survey in 2012, 61% of men surveyed would be in favor of the idea of taking the pill.
"More and more men are contacting us to find out how to take their share of responsibility," says the co-founder of Ardecom.
On the women's side, if the sharing of contraception could make it possible to limit the mental load, it is up to them to decide whether they wish to share this task or assume their fertility alone.
