Male Birth Control: New Procedure Is 100 Percent Effective, Reversible

Male Birth Control Breakthrough

A new birth control procedure shows promising signs of becoming another viable option for people who don't want children now, but may want them some day.

Techcitement points out that the procedure, which is in advanced clinical trials in India, has been found to be 100 percent effective.

One downside -- depending on how you feel about shots -- is that it requires the man receive an injection into the vas deferens with a polymer gel called Vasalgel, after a local anesthetic has been given. The substance works by breaking apart sperm.

The whole procedure takes about 15 minutes and lasts ten years or more and is more easily reversible than a vasectomy.

As the Male Contraception Information Project notes, if a man decides he'd like to have his sperm up and running again, he can get another shot and, within two to three months, the baby-making can commence.

Studies over the last 25 years have reportedly found the procedure is safe to use on both humans and animals.

Researchers are hopeful that the procedure will be on the market in the U.S. by 2015, with clinical trials beginning in 2012. Currently, the process is only available to Indian men involved in the trials.

Clarification: A previous version of this article failed to note the specific anatomical location where male patients receive the birth control injection.

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