Men Contraceptive Pill: Birth Control For Men Is Coming Closer To Reality, Scientists Say

For the past years, men have been relying on the common kinds of male contraception, including vasectomy, withdrawal and condoms. However, after many years of research, scientists in the U.S. said they are now one step closer to creating a safe contraceptive pill for men -- adding more options for men to choose from when it comes to preventing pregnancy.

Academics at Minnesota University said they had made a significant advance in their research. According to their report, scientists made small changes to the previous version of the men contraceptive pill to make it effective over a longer period. Likewise, this is intended to make the men contraceptive pill easier to take for the users.

Scientists figure out how to pause fertility in men https://t.co/dldOxrcWsB

— Charlie (@charliejwebs) Marso 14, 2016

The team is now focusing on creating a men contraceptive pill that wouldn't diminish the libido of the users. Moreover, they are aiming to create a men contraceptive pill that is safe to take.

"It would have to be soluble so it could be taken by mouth," Gunda George, head of the research team said during the American Chemical Society's annual meeting on Sunday, according to The Times. "It would start working fairly quickly and it wouldn't diminish libido. It would be safe even if taken for decades."

Furthermore, George said once the users decided to stop taking the men contraceptive pill to have children, there is no need to worry as "its impact on fertility would be reversible with no lingering ill effects" in the sperm of men as well as on the embryos.

For the past years, numerous scientists have already attempted to shift the burden of birth control to men. And just recently, a German inventor created a contraceptive device that can control men's sperm with the flick of a switch.

Watch “Bimek SLV - The New Contraception for Men” on @Vimeo https://t.co/KxZZ0vmblN — esg división médic@ (@esgdm) Pebrero 14, 2016

The contraceptive device is called Bimek SLV. It was designed with an on/off button-- allowing the users to control their sperm by switching the button to be temporarily infertile or to ejaculate if they decided to have kids.