When it comes to matters of safe sex, most university-aged men and women have been well educated on the options we have when it comes to available methods of birth control. For females, while some options have been proven more effective than others, we have a variety of birth control methods to choose from. Women have sponges, injections, patches, diaphragms, pills, female condoms, vaginal rings, spermicide and many other approaches in the matter of preventing pregnancy. For the opposite sex, there isn’t the same variety of available options when it comes to contraception. When it comes down to birth control, guys realistically have the choice between condoms and vasectomies. There is however good news for our male counterparts and their limited world of birth control options. Scientists are currently in the process of developing a new method of birth control for men called Vasalgel, with an estimated release date as early as 2017.
How does Vasalgel work exactly? Well, while you may be imagining your boyfriends and guy pals setting up special “daily alarms” on their iPhones, and sharing with you that momentary panic when they lay down to sleep and realize “I never took my pill!”, Vasalgel is set to work a little differently than the common female birth control some of us may have become accustomed to. Rather than a daily pill, Vasalgel is set to work as a one time, reversible injection. The male taking Vasalgel would receive a gel injection into his “vas deferens” (the duct which carries sperm from the testicles). The gel injection would essentially act as a plug, making it almost impossible for any sperm to get through and fertilize a female’s egg.
On their webpage ,Vasalgel is quoted as being “a long-acting, nonhormonal contraceptive similar to vasectomy but with one significant advantage: it is likely to be more reversible.” Unlike the “snip,snip” and physical surgery necessary when reversing a vasectomy, it has been stated that Vasalgel injections will have a much simpler reversal process. When a male who has received the injection has decided he is ready to set his “swimmers a float” once again, a simple follow up injection would be given in order to “flush out” the previously injected gel “plug.”
When discussing the topic of Vasalgel with some of my girlfriends and fellow HC writers, we all seemed to agree that the idea of a onetime reversible birth control injection sounded pretty great. Especially if it meant an added form of protection in addition to condoms, the pill, or any other contraceptive being used when “getting down to business”. Of course, like any injections or new medical phenomena, it is important to have some reassurance behind the success and potential negative physical implications of the procedure. I mean come on, a onetime shot of birth control that would last for years sounds a lot better than a little pill you have to be reminded to take on a daily basis. However, we are females with birth control options, and maybe we were being a little biased? I decided to ask some of the sexually active, university-aged males in my life, and see what their reactions were to this new product that could potentially “shake up” the world of male birth control.
For the most part, the answers I received pretty much came in along the lines of “you want me to put a needle into where?” and “is it going to hurt things, you know, ‘down there’?”
However, while some of my male, university-aged and sexually active friends were concerned with the newness of the drug and the physical implications it could have on their bodies, some really good points were brought up, and I was surprised at how many of them would be open to the idea of getting the Vasalgel injection if it guaranteed them 100% protection against pregnancy.
Some of the male opinions and reactions when described Vasalgel and asked if they would ever consider trying it went as follows:
“Absolutely not.”
“I personally would not try it, but like fully reversible? It’s a good step for science but I’m too young to consider fiddling around with new science, it kind of scares me. If it was easily reversible I can see why there would be interest in the method.”
“I think I would get it depending on my situation with a partner. Maybe if we talked about it first, but I don’t think I would get it while I’m single.”
“I’ll stick to condoms. If it were to harm my parts in any way it’s not worth the risk when I could use condoms.”
“Maybe when I’m married if I’m not trying for kids right away.”
“Sounds like it would be pretty awesome, besides it you know, hurting.”
“If it were 100% easily reversible I would for sure!”
“Well if the human trials go well then I’d consider getting something like that. Although that doesn’t’t really help with STIs.”
“Umm, I probably wouldn’t do it, my biggest concern over pregnancy is contracting an STI so condoms are alwaysa thing for me.”
So while the world of female and male contraceptives expands, the fact still remains, “you’ve gotta wrap it before you tap it”, “no glove, no love”, “no balloon, no party” and every other cheesy line that leads to the common factor that condoms are a must!
If you have any other inquiries or questions about Vasalgel and their quest to make their male birth control product available to the public by 2017, I would suggest checking out their webpage.
Other questions about how EXACTLY this product works? Watch this video by DNews with a more “step by step” walk through the procedure.
Interested in or have questions about other forms of birth control and contraceptives? Check out the planned parenthood Ottawa website, as well, University of Ottawa students have access to the Women’s Resource Centre, Health Services and many other safe spaces where you can receive safe advice and options for sexual health.
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