Contraceptive Skin Gel Could Knock Out Your Sperm Count

Although women have long had several forms of reversible birth control like the pill and the IUD, the only choice offered to men (that doesn’t involve cutting off their man bits and permanent sterilization, of course) has been condoms. That could soon change.

Awesomely-named researcher Dr. Christine Wang and her colleagues report success with a study involving the combination of two skin gels — one that had the male hormone testosterone, and another containing a new synthetic progestin called Nestorone. The result for men who used the combo? A very low sperm count.

Dr. Wang (stop giggling) said the progestin increases the contraceptive effectiveness of testosterone, and both work together to shut off the production of the reproductive hormones that control the production of sperm. And unlike prior studies using the combination, this is a skin gel that can be applied topically at home rather than a pill, implant or shot.

In her study, Wang said about 89 percent of men who used the gel wound up with a sperm concentration less than 1 million sperm per milliliter, “a level that is compatible with very low pregnancy rates.”

No word yet on when the magical concoction will be made available to the public or how much it’ll cost, but whatever the expense, it’ll almost certainly be cheaper than 18 years of child support payments.