A woman is a woman— just like everyone who lives, they deserve the liberty to decide for themselves and the infinite choices to do so.
One of the many things they can do is to conceive a child, but this capability should not cage their purpose; this is where the role of contraceptives comes in.
People mostly use contraceptives to responsibly plan things relating to the bearing of a child, such as when to have one or not wanting to carry one. But why should women mostly be the ones to be responsible for undergoing or taking preventatives when men are the other half who get to suffice their pleasure too?
Shedding a little light on the matter, the American Chemical Society (ACS) announced during their event with the theme of “Bonding Through Chemistry” in March that an oral contraceptive for males is under various tests and seems to be doing remarkably well.
The pill called YCT529 is a non-hormonal male contraceptive that targets the two proteins named retinoic acid and receptor alpha to refrain one from producing Vitamin A that enables a male to impregnate.
Scientists Gunda Georg and Md Abdullah Al Noman have already sampled the pill on mice and declared that it successfully worked as the male mice failed to make female mice pregnant, while the receiver of the drug showed no side effects.
"These are mice, and they're not humans, but nevertheless, the effect was very, very promising," Georg stated in the event of ACS.
After the positive results with mice as the subject, the pill was said to take off for human trials later this year and could possibly be on the market within five years.
"Usually, it takes a lot longer, but if everything works out well, perhaps, we can be faster," Georg stated in an interview with Salon.
What do other experts think about YCT529?
No matter how the drug development for the compound of the YCT529 seems to be on the right footing, some experts are not putting their trust in it yet.
A professor from Stanford University, Dr. Michael Eisenberg, expressed in an article for The New York Times how he is not impressed with the trials since mice are the test subjects.
“If every drug that worked in mice worked in humans, cancer would be cured by now,” Dr. Eisenberg said in an interview.
Another professional who doubts the drug is Dr. Amin Herati from the Brady Urological Institute of Johns Hopkins; he mentioned to The New York Times that humans have distinct interactions and reproductive systems from a mouse.
“I would be very skeptical until I see human data,” he added in an interview.
Nevertheless, Md Abdullah Al Noman, one of the scientists for the male preventative pill, has faith in their research, even if it falls short in the coming trials since they now have a compound to work with.
Why male contraceptive pill a good idea?
Having a male contraceptive pill readied on the market will be a great addition to the limited options males have since there are currently only two preventatives for them, which are the condoms and the procedure for vasectomy.
The males should have other chances to be responsible; the accountability in engaging in safe and protected sex should never be one-sided.
Multiple confessions from women say that available contraceptives feature diverse side effects, such as the headache they said to be getting after taking their birth control pills— so it is only fair for men to share the same effort.
Moreover, male contraceptive pills are pro gender equality as this assures that both sides can exert effort in engaging in safe and responsible sex.
And ultimately, when a pill like YCT529 gets into the market, the pressure of getting pregnant in no time does not fall on women only, and women can have more assurance, which can help them attain more control and fulfilling lives.
Screengrab from the event ACS Spring 2022 Meeting
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