Would you trust your man to take the Pill? Brave couple reveal what male contraceptives are really like

EVERY greeting for a year, Dan Glastonbury brushed his teeth past did thing that is incredibly acquainted to galore women.

He took his regular dose of birth control.

Dan and woman Emily are 1 of astir 200 couples who tested retired a contraceptive gel known arsenic NES/T.

It temporarily stops production of sperm, and truthful should prevent pregnancy — though the complaint of reliability is yet to beryllium determined.

The Glastonburys, who met 10 years agone and joined successful 2018, started the proceedings successful April 2019.

Dan, 37, from Manchester, tells Sun Health: “For 18 months, I kept a small vessel of gel with my toothpaste and rubbed a pump of it connected to my shoulders.

“At the archetypal check, I had 42million sperm per millilitre of semen and, implicit the people of six weeks, it dropped to little than a million, meaning it was intolerable to get a pistillate pregnant.

“From that point, we had to perpetrate to utilizing the gel arsenic our sole contraception for astatine slightest a year.”

Emily had nary uncertainty she could spot her spouse to instrumentality complaint of this important job, but could you?

“One oregon 2 pistillate friends voiced interest astir whether you could trust connected a antheral to enactment it connected each day, but astir thought it was amazing,” says Emily, 34.

Dan adds: “It lone took seconds and I had nary broadside effects. It was the cleanable solution.”

Once a far-fetched idea, the gel is astir to decorativeness the 2nd signifier of a planetary aesculapian trial.

‘The couples were precise blessed with it’

The 3rd signifier is owed to commencement adjacent twelvemonth and, if successful, it could 1 time beryllium prescribed connected the NHS, if approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Doctors accidental it would beryllium a aesculapian breakthrough, allowing men and women to instrumentality adjacent work for birth control.

Saint Mary’s Hospital successful Manchester and the University of Edinburgh person led the UK trials. 

It is besides being tested successful the US, Chile, Zimbabwe, Italy, Sweden and Kenya.

Women person to usage different signifier of contraception until the partner’s sperm number has fallen beneath 1 million/mL.

Dr Cheryl Fitzgerald, advisor successful reproductive medicine astatine Saint Mary’s, says: “While we can’t stock the results of signifier 2 yet, the couples were precise blessed with it.”

NES/T works likewise to the pistillate combined Pill. 

“The Pill has 2 hormones successful it: Progestogen, which switches disconnected the pituitary gland (the spot of your encephalon that drives the ovaries to work) and oestrogen, to regenerate the oestrogen your ovaries would make,” says Dr Fitzgerald.

“This gel is the aforesaid principle, but the progestogen switches disconnected the thrust to the testes, stopping sperm production, and the 2nd hormone is testosterone (to regenerate mislaid testosterone).”

Testosterone is important for antheral libido, bony health, hairsbreadth growth, temper and much . . . much similar oestrogen is captious for women.

Therefore it is indispensable to regenerate testosterone to debar unpleasant broadside effects.

But men can’t instrumentality it orally due to the fact that of however it is metabolised by the liver, which is wherefore NES/T is simply a gel absorbed into the skin.

Previous technological teams person utilized injectable hormones and person trialled an oral pill.

Dr Fitzgerald claims the gel comes with minimal broadside effects and, erstwhile sperm accumulation has dropped, it takes a portion to return.

She says: “If you miss a dose, it would astir apt inactive beryllium contraceptive and there’s besides nary accidental of vomiting it backmost up again.”

She adds that love-making isn’t affected by the reduced sperm count: The bulk of ejaculation is fluids from genital glands, including the prostate, not sperm. 

The Glastonburys, who tally a children’s acquisition company, joined the proceedings aft Emily spotted an advert connected Facebook .

She says: “I’ve been connected hormonal contraceptives since I was 16.

“I could ne'er find 1 I was wholly blessed with. I got headaches and felt rather down.

"There’s besides the intelligence load of remembering to instrumentality it, chasing up prescriptions and visiting clinics.

"I had a coil for 3 years but the process of having it fitted and taken retired was horrendous.

“The thought of not having to woody with each of this was precise appealing, but I had to get up the courageousness to inquire Dan.”

Luckily, her hubby had a peculiar crushed for wanting to trial it.

He says: “I had crab erstwhile I was 19 and, aft I got the each clear, my mum bought maine a publication of 101 things to bash earlier you die.

'Perfect solution'

“One was to beryllium successful a aesculapian trial, but astir won’t let it if you’ve had cancer. This was 1 I could do.

“I was wary and had reservations. I’d heard astir a proceedings [dubbed the Elephant Man trial] that went incorrect and radical mislaid fingers and toes.

“Your imaginativeness goes wild. What mightiness hap down there?

“But the scientists reassured maine they weren’t introducing a brainsick caller chemical, conscionable giving maine thing your assemblage already produces.”

The doc told the mates the broadside effects would beryllium little terrible than the Pill.

Dan admits: “I’d ne'er known determination was a immense database of things women spell done to halt them getting large portion men are oblivious. It opened my eyes to however they endure successful silence.”

Dan, who had sperm frozen during crab attraction successful lawsuit his fertility was damaged, says helium had a mixed effect to the proceedings from antheral pals.

He adds: “We were connected a stag bash and determination was banter on the lines of, ‘Don’t travel adjacent me, I don’t privation to drawback it’.

“It was specified a antheral response.”

The mates accidental immoderate contraception accidents would person been “happy” ones arsenic they planned to try for a family. In fact, Emily got large soon aft their proceedings ended.

In fact, Emily fell large soon aft their proceedings ended.

Son Jack was calved successful February 2022, followed by girl Arabella past month.

Dan says: “They predicted it would instrumentality 12 weeks [for sperm] to get backmost to normal, but it was quicker.”

Emily reckons determination were unexpected benefits aft coming disconnected the Pill.

“I had 18 months getting to cognize my assemblage and knowing erstwhile I ovulated,” she says.

“Dan understood the interaction taking complaint of our contraception had connected me.”

And Dan, who says the “next step” is astir apt a vasectomy, insists: “Our enactment beingness was arsenic bully arsenic ever and determination was nary antagonistic interaction connected my libido from the gel.

“This is the cleanable solution for dads not wanting much children, and couples trying not to get pregnant.

“It’s truthful overmuch easier and pain-free than an operation, and easier to reverse if circumstances change.”

Dr Fitzgerald says: “For 50 years, women person had each the work but besides the control.

"This gives men a accidental to forestall gestation much confidently and, portion this is inactive going to instrumentality years, not months, it’s incredibly promising.”