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.

Why are so many not viewing this as an ADDITIONAL option for men???

Yes, this. I think it would/could be fine in LTR but there’s no way you’d trust a man you barely knew to take responsibility for this. Ultimately the woman has to deal with the repercussions if a man lies or forgets to take it.

I think there is a place for it. In the same way that women protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies, surely men want to too.

No chance !
No sane woman would believe them.

99.9% of the time women can avoid getting pregnant if they really want to.

I don’t get all the comments saying they wouldn’t trust a man, well plenty of women think they won’t get pregnant by using NO contraception at all that’s why there’s so many unplanned pregnancies!!

Exactly! These comments are crazy, it’s an additional option on top of usual contraception that often “fails” how many women get pregnant “on the pill” loads, so it would be double the contraception. Maybe it’s women who don’t want a make contraception!!! But then slate men who don’t want to be around when there’s an accidental pregnancy saying they “shouldn’t have sex if they don’t want a kid” but that doesn’t apply to women? 🙄

Because that's not the way OP couched it. People are responding to her suggestion that it could address the issue of poor or absent fathers.

Great option in a committed long temt
relationship, surely men in long term relationships have to trust their female partners that they are gaming contraceptives.

The point is, if a male pill existed, the woman still wouldn’t have to take the pill if she didn’t want to, the man would have an alternative option.

I know! Women would still have the exact same contraceptive options that they have now.

But it would address the issue of poor or absent fathers. A lot of babies are currently born because the woman wanted a baby and her partner believed her when she told him he was on the pill. A male pill would be a massive game-changer, because it would mean that rather than just thinking "I want to have sex without a condom", a man would have to actively think "I want to have a child with this particular woman." I do think that would drastically reduce the number of bad fathers, and the number of fathers who walk out.

And there's the misogyny that women can't be trusted.

I’m very mixed on this one. Ideally it would be good, but would you trust a man you didn’t know very well if they said they were on the pill? And, as a PP said this would increase those not wishing to use condoms.

They were talking about the possibility of a male pill when I was an undergraduate back in the late 70s and not one of us women said we'd trust a man to take it!

I think there are other things that would address the issue of poor and absent fathers. Things we have left in the past as "old-fashioned" like the social stigma that used to be attached to being a bad husband and father.

I don't think it would be a bad thing in a committed relationship so long as the woman was fully aware and accepting of the pregnancy risks ( as chances are it wouldnt be foolproof).

But for casual sexual encounters I doubt many women would put any credence on a claim that a random guy was taking it. We'd still get unwanted pregnancies if he didn't take it at all or didn't take it reliably, eg not atvsame time as antibiotics and other issues. So only got a limited use to my mind.

What would be even more effective is if all men had to prove (via DNA) that they had not fathered the child and there was a minimum mandatory child support payment they had to pay(much larger than the bare minimum they can get away paying now), with failure to pay resulting in proper consequences.

I see no downside. Men should have the same ability to make informed choices about parenthood that women do. People here are pointing out they wouldn’t trust a man who said he was on the pill… well that’s exactly the situation men are in now. They have to trust their partners, and many women fail to take the pill correctly or outright lie about it. There is no downside to both parties being on contraception. Although personally I love my nexplanon. The pill is way too much effort to remember when to take it, when not to. Nexplanon for men?

@ToKittyornottoKitty
And who would honestly trust a man taking a pill to the degree that they would stop taking the pill themselves?
I wouldn't!

In the new TLC comedy programme "Unacceptable" Katherine Ryan suggested that all baby boys should be vasectomised at birth and only have it reversed when they proved they were not arseholes.

In the end 49% of the audience agreed 😁

Women who are married to people that they trust presumably.

I would never trust a man to take a pill daily, not even my husband. Yes if it was a long term implant or injection.

I do trust my husband but not with this. I don't even take the pill myself as I don't trust myself to remember

I would only support it if it was an additional layer of protection. Many men would take it but I'd say mostly men already in relationships when they either don't want kids or have already had kids. I can't imagine a single man taking it every day for months in the hope that he gets lucky some night

So what if many women wouldn't trust many men to take it? Having the ability for each to take charge of their own fertility can only be a good thing.