to think a male pill would be one of the best things that could happen to society?

[ZoeCM]

A massive number of society's problems are caused by absent or bad fathers. Imagine if, before a baby was conceived, a man had to consciously think, "I want to have a child with this woman, so I'll come off the pill." Not just "I want to have sex, this woman is willing, and it'll be less enjoyable if we use a condom."

Of course, it wouldn't be a panacea. There would still sadly be men who choose to come off the pill but are bad fathers anyway, or decide once the reality of parenthood sets in that they can't be bothered. And there would also be men who just don't bother to take the pill properly and are then shocked when the woman gets pregnant. But on balance, if there were a way for men to have condom-free sex without potentially having to pay for a child for eighteen years afterwards, a lot of them would be downright religious in their use of it.

I'm genuinely intrigued to see if anyone disagrees with this. I can't see any downside.

Again, OP is about absent fathers....

Yes, I'd recommend using condoms as well as the pill. But let's be honest: a lot of couples don't use condoms, especially if they've been together for years. If both halves of the couple were on the pill, there would be far fewer "unplanned" pregnancies.

I don't trust my DH to remember to put the bins out once a week. I'm buggered if I'm making him responsible for whether I fall pregnant or not...

This! The male pill would be great to protect the man against a pregnancy he didn't want, but the woman also needs to use her own form of reliable contraception to protect herself if she doesn't want to get pregnant.

Why would they bother? Pregnancy isn't their problem. If they can't be bothered to wear condoms they sure as hell aren't going to take a pill daily. Definitely in a dating/casual sex scenario...

Well yes, obviously, and I'm sure it happens. I still imagine it happening a great deal more, the other way round though.

I don’t think it would make even a small difference. Biology isn’t fair and women just need to get over that and accept if they don’t want pregnancy then ultimately the buck stops with them. It’s common for men to get a vasectomy when their family are done having children, but I don’t think any young women should rush to believe a man is on the pill.

I actually don't think it would be. It would help couples who have a healthy relationship. But 1. I think there's be even more rape. 2. One night stands would lie about it, use it as an excuse not to wear a condom and pass on STIs, be unreliable taking it as the consequences isn't theirs. 3. Lots and lots and lots of women absolutely could not and should not trust their male partners to care enough about her health to consistently take it. Christ women can't trust their partners to give them water when they're ill, spend time with their kids, not smash doors in. It would probably be used more for abuse than actual contraception.

The US is working on rolling out a male contraceptive pill that is hormone-free and blocks sperm production. Apparently because it doesn’t utilise hormones it doesn’t have the side effects that other attempts at male contraceptive pills had. Seems like it would be a fantastic option for couples.

How, in the name of God, do you think the male pill will make men more responsible? Maybe a tiny minority who are married and considering a family with their wife? The rest of the male population will carry on getting off their heads/ having one night stands without one iota of consideration as to the consequences

I think it's an okay idea, but it would only really be suited to the men who are already responsible. The feckless ones will still be feckless.
It would never have suited me. Ive always been in control of my own contraception and avoiding an unplanned pregnancy. I wouldn't want to put that in anyone else's hands.

Yeah I would never put responsibilty for my own fertliyy into the hands of a man & I would never advise my daughters to do so either.

I think a lot of women strongly believe they should be the ones to decide when their family is complete. They wouldn't be happy about having the option of the "surprise" third baby taken away.

I’d be giving them oxytocin in pill form

they’d still stop being deadbeat cunts but it might also dent their desperation to destroy the world and the people in it.

Men who don’t want more children can already access a vasectomy, why would their partners be any more unhappy about a pill?

A male pill would unequivocally be good for society. Anything that brings conception and contraception under individual control is.

Not sure how much it would change for women though? It's obviously mostly beneficial to men. Women wouldn't be taking it or relying on their partners to take it.

It's definitely good that this option is taken away from deceptive women.

I would never trust anyone to take precautions. I think the responsibility is on each individual in this case. It's too risky.

For a heterosexual young man (assuming he wants kids when he's older so the snip's not an option), there's no option but condoms, and we all know they don't always work. If I was a man, I would have been very worried about having sex as I wouldn't have wanted to be a teen father, but would have to rely on something that is only 97% effective. As a woman, if I got pregnant, I could choose to have an abortion, or have the baby adopted, so I was less worried about an accident happening.
So I think men would be thrilled!
And I'd be pleased that there were more contraceptive choices so if we women have medical issues that make the Pill etc difficult, our husbands can take responsibility.

Not a cats chance in a microwave I’d be confident my partner remembered to take it every day. He can’t find his keys in the morning let alone religiously take a tablet where the repercussions of not taking it are 99% not his to sort.

@ToKittyornottoKitty The way I see it is if a couple are definitely both done with having children then it is inherently selfish of the man not to opt for a vasectomy and expect his wife to continue with hormonal contraceptives right up until into her 50s. No hormonal contraceptives are without side effects/risk factors whereas a vasectomy involves neither of these.
After I'd had my third child (my husband's only bio child) he booked himself in for it as I was 40 and he was 45, so definitely done.
It would have been unfair on me to continue to stay on hormonal contraceptives or risk becoming pregnant again had he not made this choice.

Fuck it, put contraceptives in the water and give people support to conceive when they are perceived to be responsible enough (or on MN, be on £100k+).
/s

I think a lot of women would hate it and society would probably break down. I'm all for it though, men should have as many options as women do. No one has to "trust" a man to take the pill it's about men having better options. So just keep taking your own contraception...then it's a win/win, if he turns out to really be on the pill like he said it's double protection! Almost zero chance of pregnancy.

I think this would absolutely happen-which is why I think society would break down if it started happening on a mass scale. Men just don't want kids as much as women usually. This way he could agree to kids, get all the sex he wanted because she thinks they're trying for a baby and string her along for years.

Precisely. There are no circumstances under which I would leave this up to a man.