Unusual contraception- femidom

[Moulez]

Doing sex ed and every time this comes up it reminds me I've never heard of anyone who uses it. Do people? Do you? What's it like?!
see also diaphragm/sponge/spermicide methods.

Do they? Do they really? Are they the same men who say they don’t make them big enough?

Some men can partially lose their erection with condoms, or for men who don't have strong erections in the first place, they can keep coming off.

Loss of erection means the man should speak to a doctor, not blame a condom. Funny that most men can get an erection in their pants.

Apart from the sexual health of both parties, the “don’t like condoms” brigade should remember not all women get on with hormonal contraception, maybe if they had a baby/child/teenager to look after, it may make them think again.

I'm not making excuses for some men not being able to manage with a condom, merely explaining that this can sometimes happen, particularly in the case of illness, medication and older age.

Then they should go to the doctor.

Femidoms are still made.

Men who lose their erections with a condom, but manage with a femidom are likely wearing a condom that is too tight.

A staggering number of men don’t realise that condoms come in different sizes.

I always thought the looked like those rubbish shutes put up by builders to get debris into a skip from on high. Oh, and the noise - just like scrunched up cellophane.

Size small, medium and liar!

Back in the 80s my boyfriend at the time and I tried a femidom, I think our university was handing them out for free. We tried it just the once, which is probably all you need to know. I remember he said it was like having sex inside a plastic bag. It wasn't close fitting like a condom, it was loose and sort of, well, baggy. Horrid thing.

I used a diaphragm with spermicide for a while, it had to be fitted at a family planning clinic so you had the correct size. Slippery little bugger it was, you had to smear it with spermicide all over, then sort of squeeze it in half to insert it, and if you weren't careful it'd slip out of your hand and ping across the bathroom.

i’m so old that I remember using a sort of foam? Back in the late 70’s. It must have worked though as I didn’t get pregnant! I vaguely remember
femidom as well but never used them.

I thought femidoms were comparatively popular in Africa for women to protect themselves against HIV.

My mother always used a diaphragm, with spermicidsl gel. At least, they were kept in the bathroom, and she had regular appointments at the FPC, and I only have one younger sibling.

Equally with the way condoms work they need to be fairly snug and the overlap between comfortable and functional doesn’t exist.

Whereas the femidom works correctly and is in some ways an incredibly loose fitting condom.

Yes. They do. Really.

Femidoms provide a good alternative.

Men who are trying to totally dodge using barrier contraceptive will obviously come up with another excuse rather than use a femidom. For people where it’s a genuine issue they’re a useful alternative. Condoms need a consistent errection and to fit snugly to work properly. Where that’s difficult, something designed not to require that is helpful.

I only know of one person who tried it. Her child from the resulting pregnancy is now 7 years old

I used a diaphragm for about 25 years (with regular clinic visits for check ups, fitting etc,). Three children, all planned - no accidents.

They can certainly go to the doctor - but in the vast majority of cases where men intermittently lose their erection, there is nothing at all the doctor is going to be able to do about that, and it will continue to make the use of condoms very difficult (and risky for the woman, because if they don't fit they're much more likely to tear or slip off).

Most men, absolutely, will be able to use condoms perfectly well. And as @ScaryM0nster said, if they're just trying to dodge barrier contraception, they'll make excuses about femidoms as well.

But for men who really are prone to loss/weakening of an erection, then a femidom would be a useful alternative barrier method.

Funny that most men can get an erection in their pants

That doesn't mean they can keep it for long enough to have sex, though.

Men's genitals are just as complicated and varied as ours are, you know.

The loss of erection isn't necessarily caused by wearing the condom, though.

The point is that some men lose their erection intermittently regardless of whether they're wearing anything or not - which for obvious reasons makes condoms an inappropriate and risky option as a barrier method for them. If they partially lose their hard-on from time to time, a condom will likely tear or slip off. But with a femidom that obviously doesn't matter, as it can just be left in whether the bloke's got a full erection or not.

I was specifically talking about men who lose their erections wearing condoms who never have trouble with femidoms. Not guys with intermittent losses.

Back to report no femidoms in the stock cupboard! Perhaps I’ll order some in

😳😳😳 omg you poor thing!

I was brought up in France, but UK born. Back in the day, pessaries called Rendal’s (spelling?) were quite popular in French pharmacies. I never trusted them though. No idea if they were available in the UK.

The main problem was being on tenterhooks until my next period arrived safely 😓

I tried one years ago. Massive, slippery things and the noise? Bloody hell, mood killer, we ended up falling about laughing 🤣🤣

Same, but I didn't know anyone else who uses them