1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,920
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

2
00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:10,000
Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff Mom never told you?

3
00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:17,720
Speaker 1: From house Stop works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to

4
00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,280
Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Kristen and I'm Caroline. It's a Caroline.

5
00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:26,200
Speaker 1: I would like you to imagine a commercial for birth control.

6
00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:32,360
Speaker 1: It's probably, you know, a liberated, empowering scene, perhaps happening

7
00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:36,600
Speaker 1: in a meadow or maybe a bar, as some birth

8
00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,360
Speaker 1: control commercials have been set in indeed, But now think

9
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,320
Speaker 1: about what it would look like if it were a

10
00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,440
Speaker 1: birth control for a guy, because I'm all of a

11
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:55,240
Speaker 1: sudden thinking of as body spray commercials for control drinking

12
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,360
Speaker 1: birth control dudes. Yeah, and something it would feature of

13
00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,000
Speaker 1: football and some pizza. They throwing the ball back and forth,

14
00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,080
Speaker 1: and they may maybe they start talking about while throwing

15
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,800
Speaker 1: the football, like yeah, bro, I mean like it's just

16
00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,200
Speaker 1: great because uh, because my little guys don't work anymore,

17
00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:11,840
Speaker 1: but I'm still able to get it on and have

18
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,399
Speaker 1: a fulfilling relationship. And then they punch each other each

19
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:18,000
Speaker 1: other and then go run into the meadow with the

20
00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,280
Speaker 1: other women. Yeah, So, as you might be able to

21
00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:24,959
Speaker 1: tell from this, we just wanted to set a scene

22
00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,320
Speaker 1: for everyone because we're going to talk about male birth

23
00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:33,760
Speaker 1: control today and we've talked about male birth control back

24
00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,119
Speaker 1: when on Stuff Mom and never told you. I think

25
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,960
Speaker 1: the episode probably came out a couple of years ago now,

26
00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,160
Speaker 1: and it's actually come a long way in a couple

27
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,760
Speaker 1: of years. It's still not on the market, but researchers

28
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,840
Speaker 1: are still trying to figure out what's going on. So

29
00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,480
Speaker 1: in our last conversation about male birth control, the big

30
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,920
Speaker 1: question was whether or not UH doctors should look at

31
00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,400
Speaker 1: hormonal options for male birth control versus non hormonal options.

32
00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,440
Speaker 1: They're taught talking about having these rods of progesterone hormone

33
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,000
Speaker 1: implanted into men's arms and then they would get regular

34
00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,160
Speaker 1: shots of testosterone to balance out all of these side

35
00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,480
Speaker 1: effects that would happen. That's a lot of needles. That's

36
00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,600
Speaker 1: a lot of needles. And then yeah, and like hormones rods,

37
00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,720
Speaker 1: And then there's the idea that you could have a

38
00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,480
Speaker 1: radio controlled implant where you could literally zap sperm. What

39
00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,079
Speaker 1: if it interfered with like your garage door or the

40
00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,000
Speaker 1: security alarm on your car, like keyless entry on your car,

41
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:31,840
Speaker 1: or if you're a dad and you're around kids who

42
00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,440
Speaker 1: have remote controlled cars. I mean, sorry a little Johnny,

43
00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:42,120
Speaker 1: didn't didn't mean to kill your all of your potential siblings. Uh.

44
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:47,680
Speaker 1: So that's where we were, And basically, the it seems

45
00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,040
Speaker 1: like the net net in two years is that hormonal

46
00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:54,400
Speaker 1: is not the way to go because hormonal options for

47
00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:59,880
Speaker 1: women far easier than hormonal hormonal options for men. Yeah, all,

48
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,040
Speaker 1: we don't exactly, you know, have it that easy either

49
00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:07,600
Speaker 1: with our hormonal options. Well, sure, I mean, I'm I'm

50
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,800
Speaker 1: glad that researchers are really trying to work out a

51
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,840
Speaker 1: non hormonal option for for guys that doesn't affect their libido,

52
00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,399
Speaker 1: but you know, we haven't exactly gotten that consideration. Yeah.

53
00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,120
Speaker 1: Despite the host of side effects that come with specifically

54
00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,600
Speaker 1: oral contraceptives for women, there's been a lot more attention

55
00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,040
Speaker 1: to the side effects that could affect men if they

56
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,440
Speaker 1: were to take birth control, because if the side effects

57
00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,560
Speaker 1: are bad enough, would they take it? Exactly, and researchers

58
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,440
Speaker 1: saying no, And then pharmaceutical companies would not make the

59
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,040
Speaker 1: investment in it, so it would never come to the

60
00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,600
Speaker 1: market because guys would never buy it. And then we're

61
00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,000
Speaker 1: back to the drawing board. Exactly. So. One of the

62
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,520
Speaker 1: main reasons why figuring out a birth control option for

63
00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:48,400
Speaker 1: men has been a little tricky is because with women,

64
00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,360
Speaker 1: you got one time of the month you gotta work with.

65
00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,360
Speaker 1: You just have to figure out how to stop that

66
00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,440
Speaker 1: egg from dropping down so that they could get fertilized.

67
00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:03,000
Speaker 1: With guys, you gotta kill like a Jillian sperm. Yeah,

68
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:08,080
Speaker 1: so many twinkles your yeah, that you have to kill. Um.

69
00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,200
Speaker 1: So that's been kind of a tricky thing. But researchers

70
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:17,560
Speaker 1: at Columbia University, I think they might have an answer. Yeah.

71
00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:22,200
Speaker 1: According to an article in Time magazine, UM, a medicine

72
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,719
Speaker 1: it was used originally or it was developed originally to

73
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,680
Speaker 1: treat skin diseases, was found to be a testicular toxin.

74
00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,360
Speaker 1: I know, it's fun, it's delicious. Um Yeah. No. In June,

75
00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,760
Speaker 1: a study came out of Columbia showing that UM this

76
00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:43,400
Speaker 1: this compound could be used to prevent pregnancy. Scientists discovered

77
00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,800
Speaker 1: that mice in the lab lost their fertility when they

78
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,400
Speaker 1: took the medicine UM because it uh interfered with the

79
00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,679
Speaker 1: absorption of vitamin A. Right, so they're thinking, oh, okay,

80
00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,919
Speaker 1: here we go. The vitamin A that's the key. Doesn't

81
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,160
Speaker 1: it sound kind of like a healthy male birth control?

82
00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,720
Speaker 1: Oh wait, it's the deficiency, right, You've got that. Your

83
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,760
Speaker 1: mom was not just making up the thing about carrots.

84
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:04,520
Speaker 1: I mean she probably was to get you to eat

85
00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:06,360
Speaker 1: your carrots. I never in my carrot, but I never

86
00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:17,160
Speaker 1: did either cook carrots or you couldn't gross. There's noways right. Um,

87
00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:18,560
Speaker 1: So it turns out that if you have a lack

88
00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,120
Speaker 1: of vitamin A in your system, um, you're not gonna

89
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,960
Speaker 1: be able to keep your eyeballs very moist. Yeah. Vitamin

90
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,560
Speaker 1: A keeps your retiness healthy, keeps your eyes moist, you

91
00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,160
Speaker 1: know with all the blinking. Um. But it also contributes

92
00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,840
Speaker 1: to a healthy immune system and tissue development. So if

93
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,839
Speaker 1: you don't have that stuff going on, I mean, you

94
00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,240
Speaker 1: could get sick. So what they're trying to do it's

95
00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,280
Speaker 1: basically figure out part of the vitamin that they can

96
00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,080
Speaker 1: kind of prevent from. Yeah, if there's like a part

97
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,880
Speaker 1: of that vitamin that could have the that negative effect

98
00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,040
Speaker 1: on sperm development because got adult males need around nine

99
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:59,760
Speaker 1: hundred micrograms of vitamin A per day. And I thought

100
00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,280
Speaker 1: this is a great quote. The study author from Columbia

101
00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:09,040
Speaker 1: said that test. These are exquisitely sensitive, exquisitely, it's exquisite.

102
00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:15,680
Speaker 1: They're exquisitely sensitive to the disruption of retinoids signaling. So basically,

103
00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,800
Speaker 1: if they have a vitamin A deficiency, they will be infertile, yes,

104
00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,719
Speaker 1: but also not in too good a shape, right, Yeah,

105
00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:25,840
Speaker 1: so yeah, they could be tired and cranky. I mean,

106
00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,360
Speaker 1: the mice haven't said anything about whether they're tired or cranky.

107
00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,080
Speaker 1: But if mice are talking to you have bigger problems.

108
00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,640
Speaker 1: So there's that going on. And then there is something

109
00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,400
Speaker 1: something afoot in Indonesia. Yeah, there's a plant called the

110
00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,279
Speaker 1: ganderussa plant that's been used by locals for centuries. Actually

111
00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,440
Speaker 1: UM too combat stress they put in their tea. But

112
00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,520
Speaker 1: they've also had this anecdotal evidence floating around from the

113
00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,920
Speaker 1: locals that it actually lowers fertility to UM. So, according

114
00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,800
Speaker 1: to a PBS news our report, er Lana Universe maybe

115
00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,159
Speaker 1: maybe I'm right talking this er Langa University UM has

116
00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,680
Speaker 1: been studying the plant's effect on mice for about twenty

117
00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,880
Speaker 1: five years and now they're testing it on actual people. Yeah,

118
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:15,160
Speaker 1: and so far they have success rate. And just like

119
00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,680
Speaker 1: the vitamin neighbor ssearch going on at Columbia. There's a

120
00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:20,760
Speaker 1: lot of buzz about this because these are both non

121
00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,040
Speaker 1: hormonal options, and they'd be both would be reversible. You

122
00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,520
Speaker 1: stop taking the supplement and you get your groove back,

123
00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:29,880
Speaker 1: right if you decide you want all sorts of little

124
00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,880
Speaker 1: bundles of responsibility running around for eighteen years. If you

125
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,240
Speaker 1: want to take that on, you can. Um. Yeah, I know.

126
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,440
Speaker 1: The the chemical in this plant doesn't actually affect a

127
00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,160
Speaker 1: guy's hormones. It just changes the sperms chemistry so that

128
00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,080
Speaker 1: they're unable to pierce the eggs outer wall. But the

129
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,960
Speaker 1: third option that we're about to talk about, this is

130
00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,040
Speaker 1: the one that's really making headlines. There's a huge article

131
00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,200
Speaker 1: in it in Wired magazine a couple of months ago.

132
00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,760
Speaker 1: There has been some divi elopment going on actually stateside

133
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:07,480
Speaker 1: now and again it's another non hormonal option with kind

134
00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,280
Speaker 1: of a silly name. Yeah, it's got it's ris sug rug.

135
00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,800
Speaker 1: What does it stand for. It stands for reversible inhibition

136
00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 1: of sperm under guidance, comforting guidance, wooing the sperm out. Yeah.

137
00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,320
Speaker 1: But but it's a bait and switch trap, little guys.

138
00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,520
Speaker 1: It's a trap turned back. Yeah, So this rice sug

139
00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,960
Speaker 1: chemical was developed by this genius scientist guy in India

140
00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,760
Speaker 1: who was actually working on finding a way to purify

141
00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:37,480
Speaker 1: water as it came out of the pipe so that

142
00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,040
Speaker 1: people wouldn't get sick um. But he took the idea

143
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,480
Speaker 1: and applied it to sperm. So actually, this whole water

144
00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:46,679
Speaker 1: pipe thing is it's not a bad analogy if you

145
00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:51,400
Speaker 1: don't mind comparing pregnancy with water borne illnesses. No, it's true.

146
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,199
Speaker 1: Basically what happens. And the researcher's name is su j Guha,

147
00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,480
Speaker 1: and he figured out that you could basically inject a holemer,

148
00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,520
Speaker 1: the special polymer that you developed into the vas deference,

149
00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:09,280
Speaker 1: which is the little slide that goes takes the sperm

150
00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,840
Speaker 1: out of the penis from the love out of the penis.

151
00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:17,840
Speaker 1: They made that sound sounds like uh, thereby blocking their

152
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,360
Speaker 1: their exit so they can't get to the egg, right, Yeah,

153
00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,240
Speaker 1: So they inject this gel into the vast difference instead

154
00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,840
Speaker 1: of doing the snip snip of a vasectomy, they just

155
00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,319
Speaker 1: inject the gel and it forms a barrier so that

156
00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,720
Speaker 1: fewer sperm come out. And once the dew were disabled,

157
00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:34,600
Speaker 1: and when you decide you want to be a dad,

158
00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,360
Speaker 1: you and your partner want to be parents. Um, you

159
00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:39,319
Speaker 1: just go in for a second injection and it dissolves

160
00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,600
Speaker 1: the gel exactly, and this can last for ten to

161
00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:47,359
Speaker 1: fifteen years. So yeah, it's it's been this really promising

162
00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:53,160
Speaker 1: male birth control option, but it unfortunately got kind of

163
00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,320
Speaker 1: shut down. Some funding got pulled. The World Health Organization

164
00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:01,240
Speaker 1: went over to India to check out gujas um research

165
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,640
Speaker 1: going on, and they didn't really like how it was

166
00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:07,320
Speaker 1: set up. It didn't really think that it was necessarily

167
00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:09,720
Speaker 1: up to snuff, even though all the tests so far

168
00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:14,480
Speaker 1: I've worked of the time. Um. And as a result

169
00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,640
Speaker 1: of losing funding, Elaine Listener, who was a director of

170
00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,640
Speaker 1: the Male Contraception Information Project in San Francisco, has actually

171
00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:28,880
Speaker 1: bought the rights to goujas technique to rizug Um, and

172
00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,400
Speaker 1: she's hoping to bring it to the US. Yeah. Unfortunately though,

173
00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:34,439
Speaker 1: and I mean, okay, this makes sense, but she has

174
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,480
Speaker 1: to go through all of the testing that he's already

175
00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,520
Speaker 1: done basically all over again. So well, that's great, and

176
00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:42,960
Speaker 1: we can test it and make sure it works. Who

177
00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,720
Speaker 1: knows when we're actually gonna see that on the market. Well,

178
00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:47,719
Speaker 1: and here's the thing though, I mean, we're talking a

179
00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:49,600
Speaker 1: lot about you know, when can it come get through

180
00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,160
Speaker 1: f D a approval to get on the market in

181
00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,720
Speaker 1: the US. But one of the main reasons why a

182
00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,800
Speaker 1: lot of this research is being spearheaded in places like

183
00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,720
Speaker 1: India and Indonesia is because both those countries are having

184
00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:07,560
Speaker 1: especially Indonesia, are having issues with overpopulation. And even in

185
00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,760
Speaker 1: the United States right now with birth control options for women,

186
00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:17,200
Speaker 1: over around half of pregnancies are still unintended. So obviously

187
00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:18,839
Speaker 1: we need to close the gap somewhere. And if we're

188
00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:23,400
Speaker 1: going over to um overpopulated areas, a male birth control

189
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:27,960
Speaker 1: option like RISE that could possibly work of the time

190
00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:32,600
Speaker 1: for ten to fifteen years could be a huge improvement, right.

191
00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,040
Speaker 1: It could take some of the responsibility off women. But

192
00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,480
Speaker 1: I mean, how great would it be if both partners

193
00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:39,960
Speaker 1: in a relationship could be on birth control? Yeah? And

194
00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,640
Speaker 1: also how much more affordable, um if you have an option,

195
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,480
Speaker 1: you know, a long term option like RISE of something,

196
00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:49,920
Speaker 1: rather than a supplement that you might have to take

197
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,760
Speaker 1: every single day. There is something that kind of worries

198
00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:54,680
Speaker 1: me about this idea though, which I mean and I

199
00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:56,920
Speaker 1: love it. I love the idea of male birth of

200
00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,079
Speaker 1: male birth control. I think we share, the share the sponsibility. Guys.

201
00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,840
Speaker 1: That's something that worries me is you know, guy meets

202
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,520
Speaker 1: a girl in a bar, they go home together, and

203
00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:09,360
Speaker 1: he promises that things are a certain way, and then

204
00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,600
Speaker 1: they're not. Like what happens if all of a sudden,

205
00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,959
Speaker 1: like STDs and pregnancies just get out of control? I

206
00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,719
Speaker 1: don't know. I mean, I think that's definitely a point, um,

207
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:23,880
Speaker 1: And you are certainly not alone in your skepticism this, Caroline. Uh,

208
00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:28,920
Speaker 1: there was actually a recent survey in the UK which

209
00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,160
Speaker 1: found similar things. Like guys, both men and women surveyed

210
00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:35,000
Speaker 1: on their thoughts of male birth control said yes, I'd

211
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,719
Speaker 1: be a great option. But funnily enough, it was the

212
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,040
Speaker 1: women who said, no, no, no, my bloke stuck going

213
00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,640
Speaker 1: to take that. That was the worst accident I've ever done.

214
00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:50,120
Speaker 1: Um wasn't that was all right? I've done better? Uh? Yeah,

215
00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,720
Speaker 1: they were saying, you know that they would not trust

216
00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:57,320
Speaker 1: a guy to take something every day they forget. But

217
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,240
Speaker 1: if you have an injection option like Rise, I'm really

218
00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,520
Speaker 1: selling this Rise. Can we be on the commercial? I hope?

219
00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,559
Speaker 1: So in a meadow? Yes? Hello, men, So if they

220
00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:09,679
Speaker 1: had sort of that one time shot that they had

221
00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:16,199
Speaker 1: to get much easier to deal with. But one another point, Caroline,

222
00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,360
Speaker 1: to your skepticism. Even though male birth control in the

223
00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,520
Speaker 1: sense of like the pill that we have, we ladies

224
00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:27,720
Speaker 1: can take, guys aren't completely without birth control options. Oh

225
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:32,800
Speaker 1: tell me about them. Well, from Planned Parenthood, we know

226
00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:39,559
Speaker 1: that men currently have five birth control options. Five guys

227
00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:43,360
Speaker 1: count them. Get ready to be really let down because

228
00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:46,959
Speaker 1: number one is abstinence. I mean that's really the only,

229
00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,679
Speaker 1: yeah form of birth control. Let's be honest, abstinence. Then

230
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,319
Speaker 1: you got condoms. Let's not forget about condoms. That's not

231
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,000
Speaker 1: you should use them, bag it up. And then there

232
00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,960
Speaker 1: is always outer course the sectomy and withdrawal. So it's

233
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,480
Speaker 1: kind of a lackluster list, you know, especially because vasectomy

234
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,959
Speaker 1: there are questions about whether or not it's reversible, and

235
00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:15,880
Speaker 1: it involves audizing and some people like my brother sorry

236
00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:17,840
Speaker 1: to sorry to bring this up, but some people don't

237
00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,360
Speaker 1: always have a good vasectomy experience, and it ends being

238
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,480
Speaker 1: really painful for some people. So if there could be

239
00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:28,240
Speaker 1: a pain free, hormonal free, yeah, that would be great.

240
00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,240
Speaker 1: But I thought it would be interesting too to compare

241
00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:36,080
Speaker 1: the numbers of the women who are taking oral contraceptives

242
00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,760
Speaker 1: versus the men who have gotten vasectomies in the United States.

243
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:41,200
Speaker 1: And I know that that is a bit of an

244
00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:46,720
Speaker 1: Apple's and Oranges comparison, but just maybe gauge a little

245
00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:52,280
Speaker 1: bit men's willingness to um remove their their chances at reproducing.

246
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,840
Speaker 1: So right now, we got around ten million women on

247
00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,600
Speaker 1: the pill of women a lot of women of productive

248
00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,840
Speaker 1: age hop on birth control vasectomy in the US. This

249
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,040
Speaker 1: is according to the CDC in two thousand two. That

250
00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,920
Speaker 1: was the most recent stat I could find five and

251
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,560
Speaker 1: twenty six thousand m ten million versus half a million.

252
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,480
Speaker 1: But again, I mean, who wants to get something cauterized

253
00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,040
Speaker 1: down there and yeah, tied up and yeah, shut off.

254
00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,400
Speaker 1: At least we can just stop taking the pill and

255
00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:28,520
Speaker 1: be ready to go and have babies and stuff. Yeah,

256
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:33,120
Speaker 1: and and and week and next week today personally after

257
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,120
Speaker 1: the podcast, but again, even though it's been two years

258
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:41,360
Speaker 1: since this last episode on male birth control, basically the

259
00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,560
Speaker 1: line that you will constantly hear from pharmaceutical companies and

260
00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,280
Speaker 1: researchers is we're just about five years away. About five

261
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,080
Speaker 1: years away, And I thought that a nice closer quote

262
00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,960
Speaker 1: for this episode, which is entitled male birth Control. So

263
00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:57,960
Speaker 1: close yet so far, because it seems like the research

264
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,400
Speaker 1: is there. Researchers are figuring out how to do this

265
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:06,040
Speaker 1: non hormonally with reversible options and limited side effects for guys.

266
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,680
Speaker 1: Um and Tracy Clark Floury from Salon. Actually Uh wrote

267
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:14,160
Speaker 1: a column on how male birth control might affect have

268
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,720
Speaker 1: a societal impact, kind of like that when the pill

269
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,720
Speaker 1: hit the market in the sixties, although it was not

270
00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:25,200
Speaker 1: permitted for unmarried women until nineteen. Fun fact, Uh, the

271
00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:29,520
Speaker 1: one of the main chemists who developed the first oral contraceptive,

272
00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,720
Speaker 1: told her, I don't see the faintest chance of male

273
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:40,160
Speaker 1: birth control being approved in the next couple of decades. Yeah, well,

274
00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:44,280
Speaker 1: let's prove that guy wrong scientists. Yeah, so, I mean,

275
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,200
Speaker 1: I don't know. Guys, what do you think would you

276
00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,960
Speaker 1: take male birth control? Would you like for male birth

277
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,880
Speaker 1: control to be available aside, of course from the five

278
00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,360
Speaker 1: options that I listed from planned parenthood? Yeah? And would

279
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,120
Speaker 1: single guys take it versus guys and relationships or guys

280
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,240
Speaker 1: and committed relation ships more likely to get on birth

281
00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,640
Speaker 1: control to make sure their partner doesn't get pregnant exactly?

282
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,080
Speaker 1: Many questions out here and a few surveys. Surprisingly few

283
00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:12,000
Speaker 1: surveys that have been done. So give us a shout.

284
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,359
Speaker 1: Head over to Facebook and leave us a comment there

285
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,119
Speaker 1: if you'd like to, or you can always email us

286
00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,119
Speaker 1: moms Stuff at how stuff works dot com and we

287
00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:25,560
Speaker 1: will read you a couple of listener emails. And now, okay, Kristen,

288
00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,239
Speaker 1: we have another Kristen who wrote in this one is

289
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,600
Speaker 1: in response to the podcast about whether men and women

290
00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,919
Speaker 1: can just be in platonic friendships. She said, I have

291
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,720
Speaker 1: had both experiences throughout my life. I run a business

292
00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,679
Speaker 1: that I founded with my four amazing male friends. We

293
00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,880
Speaker 1: have now been working together for six years, and I've

294
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,000
Speaker 1: had a sexual relationship with one of them, and we

295
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,880
Speaker 1: maintained a great emotional relationship on top of this other

296
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,000
Speaker 1: relationship that was happening. We are now both seeing other

297
00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,040
Speaker 1: people and have maintained a great friendship, even if it

298
00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:56,240
Speaker 1: had some ups and downs, been working at the logistics

299
00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,720
Speaker 1: of it. That being said, there are three other men

300
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,600
Speaker 1: in my company who I have not had this kind

301
00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:03,240
Speaker 1: of relationship with. I get some of the best emotional

302
00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,119
Speaker 1: support from these men and tend not to have this

303
00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,240
Speaker 1: kind of closeness with many of my girlfriends. Go Kristen,

304
00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,720
Speaker 1: way to have good platonic relationships. I myself, I'm also

305
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,280
Speaker 1: friends with with many dudes, many wonderful dudes, as am I.

306
00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,359
Speaker 1: So I think from our both of our experiences, we

307
00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,440
Speaker 1: will say it is possible. It's possible. So I've got

308
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,760
Speaker 1: one here from Stacy and this is on our episode

309
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,320
Speaker 1: on women in motorcycles, which is a little bit old,

310
00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:29,160
Speaker 1: but I really liked her story. She said, it's very

311
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,119
Speaker 1: interesting to be a woman riding her own bike. I

312
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,800
Speaker 1: always have people making comments, are complimenting me on it,

313
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,320
Speaker 1: or men asking if they can ride on the back

314
00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,160
Speaker 1: and a word yes in a lame attempt of trying

315
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,439
Speaker 1: to hit on me. My favorite was when I was

316
00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,200
Speaker 1: at a bar, not drinking, because that's stupid to drink

317
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,000
Speaker 1: and ride with my husband and our friends. I was

318
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:49,960
Speaker 1: giving my husband a hard time about something and a

319
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,040
Speaker 1: male patron of the bar told me that I'd better

320
00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,679
Speaker 1: be careful otherwise he'll leave me behind, which one of

321
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,600
Speaker 1: my male friends quickly informed him that I had my

322
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,480
Speaker 1: own bike, and he got pretty embarrassed. She says, I've

323
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:07,280
Speaker 1: recently acquired a one Leader Triumph speed Triple, which is

324
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:11,600
Speaker 1: apparently a huge bike in bike speed um. When I

325
00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:13,919
Speaker 1: purchased my new bike. My husband told a guy that

326
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,160
Speaker 1: I was getting it, and he said, you put your

327
00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,040
Speaker 1: wife on a one leader like it was his choice.

328
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,919
Speaker 1: It's been very interesting to see how the size of

329
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,200
Speaker 1: the engine will also make men feel inadequate. And yes,

330
00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:31,800
Speaker 1: that's open for Freudian interpretation. Women on motorcycles, men on

331
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,119
Speaker 1: birth control. What a top state Derby world we live in.

332
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:40,720
Speaker 1: So send us an email Mom Stuff and how Stuff

333
00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,080
Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Come on over to Facebook and say hello,

334
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,439
Speaker 1: leave a comment like Asiff you wouldn't mind, And you

335
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,399
Speaker 1: can also follow us on Twitter. It's at Mom Stuff

336
00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,439
Speaker 1: podcast and finally you can read our Blond Darry the

337
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,320
Speaker 1: Week as well. It's stuff Mom Never Told You from

338
00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:03,800
Speaker 1: How Stuff Works dot com. Be sure to check out

339
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,040
Speaker 1: our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join How

340
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,600
Speaker 1: Staff Work staff as we explore the most promising and

341
00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:13,840
Speaker 1: perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The House staff Works iPhone app

342
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:21,680
Speaker 1: has a ride. Download it today on iTunes, brought to

343
00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,800
Speaker 1: you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready,

344
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:25,400
Speaker 1: are you