Only male mental health matters (according to our contraception).

With endless forms of ‘birth control’ available for women and only two for men, 77% of contraceptive responsibility is carried by our female population. With this responsibility can come nasty side effects, with studies indicating a clear link between hormonal birth control and depression. And yet, a clinical trial to “increase the number of effective male contraceptive options” was cut short because of these familiar side effects.

“Decreased interest in sex, depression and decreased mood, migraines, nausea, breast pain, pelvic pain, and weight gain.” These are the “common” side effects listed for the Zoely female contraceptive pill, occurring in more than one per 100 users.

But there’s always other options, right? If the side effects for your birth control are so bad, why don’t you try another pill? Or another form of contraception altogether, like the injection?

“Increased risk of noncancerous ovarian cysts, decreased sex drive, dizziness, headaches, mood swings and depression…”

Need I go on?

Many women experience a long journey trying to find the right contraception, and it’s not always (or, almost never) easy. Although there are plenty of options, including the pill, the injection, the female condom, the IUD and more; male birth control options are very limited, with only the male condom and a vasectomy available for those men wanting to share some of the contraceptive responsibility.

The United Nations Contraceptive Use by Method report 2019, shows a disproportionate divide between contraceptive options available between both genders. With seven options available for women (seen in pink), and just two for men (seen in blue). Also, the contraceptive method with the largest population usage is female sterilization (24%), and the lowest is vasectomy (2%).

This divide is further highlighted when you combine the population usage of each female birth control method, against the usage of each male method. 77%of all contraception is used by women, and only 23%by men. Comparing this data with the graph above, it is clear there aren’t enough male options available. For instance, male condoms are the second-highest method, used by 21% of contraceptive users. Meaning, if other, more appealing methods were developed the gap between contraceptive responsibility would hopefully decrease.

To try and minimise this gap, developing more male contraceptives has been experimented with since the ’70s. So why do we still only have two male methods in 2021?

Well, it is harder to develop a male contraceptive all thanks to biology. Women produce just one or two eggs per month, while men produce millions of sperm daily and reducing it can be difficult. But there is also a lack of funding for the development of male contraception, making things even harder than they already are. However, the main reason we are yet to see more male birth control options is because of bad side effects including infertility, erectile dysfunction, and mood disorders.

In 2016, The World Health Organisation (WHO)commissioned a trial for a male hormonal-injection contraceptive. Suggesting that “the development of a safe and effective reversible method of male contraception is still an unmet need.”

The study found the injectable combination hormonal contraceptive for men to be 96% effective in preventing pregnancy and over three-quarters of the final remaining participants suggested they would purchase the product if it were available to the public. However, the trial was cut short after the studies committee deemed the side effects were putting the men at risk.

This was following one participant being diagnosed with “severe depression,” and another attempting suicide. However, the majority of participants did not experience mood associated side effects. 16.9% of participants reported having an “emotional disorder” after the injections, and only 2.8% reported experiencing a depressed mood or depression.

It is surprising the trial was cut short when the majority of men participating in the study were happy with its outcome and would use the product if they could. However, mental health is extremely important and even though there were only two extreme cases, it is good there is great caution before releasing something with possible extreme side effects onto the market. But why don’t we see the same caution when it comes to female contraception and the many negative side effects millions of women experience each year? Especially the side effects causing mental ill-health?

Research from the Psychobehavioral Effects of Hormonal Contraceptive use (2013) found a clear link between female hormonal contraceptive use and depression. As well as links between taking hormonal contraception and the worsening of pre-existing psychological conditions such as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

A 2018 study titled Association of Hormonal Contraception with Suicide Attempts and suicide found there is an association between the use of hormonal contraception and suicide; with adolescent women at the highest risk.

And yet, these contraceptives are still being used and the associated side effects aren’t always taken seriously. Especially as seriously as the halted men’s injection contraceptive, which was ended when similar information was discovered.

While it is clear this is an under-researched topic, there is a significant difference in the expectation’s society places on women, compared to men, when it comes to taking contraceptive responsibility. Not only that, when women experience negative side effects from contraceptive methods, they are often ignored. This was especially highlighted when talks of Covid-vaccine associate blood clots swarmed the media as people were comparing the statistics to that of the female birth control pill. For example, the Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine puts people at a 3 in 1,000,000 chance risk of having blood clots. Where women taking the oral contraceptive pill have a 5-12 in 10,000 chance of having blood clots. It is funny to see the difference in how society reacts to something with potentially harmful side effects when it affects everyone, opposed to something that affects just women…