Sixty years—that’s how long it’s taken for methods of male hormonal birth control to even begin development. However, as of 2025, researchers suggest that effective forms of male birth control could be available for public use within ten years, maybe as soon as five.
Current hormonal treatments to prevent pregnancies only exist for women, with an estimated 7% chance of failure. Practical methods like condoms can have a failure rate upwards of 13%, and at a time as politically contested through the introduction of the Roe v. Wade act in the US, and encroaching policies onto the UK political scene, reliable methods of preventing pregnancies are becoming increasingly vital. A recent study across the US suggests that 49% of men would use a hormonal contraception within the first year of availability; however, progress into male contraceptives have mainly been halted by fears of the effects not being reversible.
A new hormonal gel, called NES/T is being developed by the Population Council and the National Institute of Health (NIH), and is in the fourth stage of the trial. The gel is made up of two main components—Nesterone, a progestin that prevents the testes from making sperm, and testosterone, which is used to maintain levels of the male hormone to a healthy standard for men. NES/T is rubbed on the shoulders and torso every day, and reduces the sperm count to low enough that it will prevent pregnancy during intercourse. One positive of NES/T is already clear; the reduced sperm count can take weeks to recover, so missing a day of treatment may have a much lesser effect than hormonal birth control for women. This means that if the man was to have sex after forgetting to take the contraceptive treatment, they would still have a reduced chance of impregnating the woman, as their sperm count would still be lowered.
The hope for the treatment was that it would be at least as effective as female birth control, however, Mitchell Creinin, professor of obstetrics, and gynaecology at UC Davis, suggests that the treatment is working even better than expected.
Like all medications, however, there are downsides to the treatment. Side-effects include dry or oily skin, hair growth, and loss, mood swings, and increased or decreased libido, although participants of the trial say these effects were short-lived. Other forms of male birth control are being tested, such as sAC inhibitors or retinoic acid, but it appears that NES/T is the most likely to be available to the public in the next decade.