Kent State’s study of bull testicles has put the university at the forefront of research that could lead to the creation of a male birth control pill.

Srinivasan Vijayaraghavan, a male reproductive physiologist and assistant professor, says he and researchers are using bull sperm to pinpoint when and where sperm matures, and this discovery could lead to the development of a male pill.
Vijayaraghavan says researchers use bull sperm because it’s cheap and very similar to human sperm.

“Clearly working with bull, the essential chromosomes are identical,” Vijayaraghavan says.

Vijayaraghavan says university researchers are studying the sperm in the epidiymis, the tube that carries the sperm from the testes to the penis.

“Something happens down that tube. We want to know what happens here that turns on the switches,” he says.

Knowing what turns on these switches — or what causes the sperm to mature — means researchers could learn to stop maturation.

“There is no male contraceptive on the market based on how these cells work,” Vijayaraghavan says.

University researchers have already received two patents on peptides, which are part of a protein in sperm. Vijayaraghavan says they were able to make mimics of the peptides and interfere with other sperm proteins.

“We’re on our way,” he says.

Kim Myers, molecular cell biology major, is one of the few students that work closely with the research team.

“The past couple of weeks, it’s all I’ve been doing,” she says with a smile.

“Part of the appeal of biology is making a contribution to a big picture.”
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The possibility of a male pill has spawned discussion across the country about contraception responsibility. Many say the balance among sexes is unequal and would remain that way even if a male pill were introduced.

Teens and young adults rely on oral contraceptives more than any other age group, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a source for health and sex statistics. But statistics show that both sexes feel men aren’t involved enough in choosing and using contraception. Only 16 percent of men and 13 percent of women say men play enough of a role in choosing a contraceptive method, according to the foundation’s 1997 study "A New National Survey on Men’s Role in Preventing Pregnancy."

Assistant professor Dianne Kerr says a male birth control pill would involve men more.

“You want to share that responsibility with your partner — the costs or if it’s a method that includes charting your cycle,” says Kerr, who teaches sexuality health programs at Kent State.

Nicole Hepler, junior fashion marketing major, says she would like to see men involved more.

“The weight of preventing pregnancy shouldn’t be on one person,” she says. “It takes two people putting forth effort to prevent pregnancy.”

But senior nutrition major Mandy Wakim says she doesn’t think men would take the pill.

“Guys stereotypically don’t want to look unmanly to their friends. I don’t think guys would take it as much as girls would,” she says. “They’d forget, and if they do, it’s the girls that are left with the consequences.”

Sophomore Sean Seiler says he doesn’t like the idea.

“I’d rather just use condoms. They’re easier,” he says. “I don’t think girls would trust guys to take it because guys lie a lot, and girls don’t tend to trust guys.”

Junior philosophy major John Winnen also says he wouldn’t take the pill.

“I don’t really like taking pills to begin with,” he says. “I don’t want to change that, and I wouldn’t want it to be in my body.”
But Winnen adds that the pill would probably encourage men to take initiative with contraception.

“Women are more responsible with pregnancy, with birth control. It’s all on the women,” he says. “So hopefully if that came out, men would take more responsibility.”

Joe Walsh, junior fine arts major, says he’d like the option — it would make him more comfortable.

“I would take it so I didn’t have to worry about a girl saying she did, when maybe she hadn’t,” he says.
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Kerr says creating a male pill would be a breakthrough, but society would have to change for it to be successful.

“I think it would take some differences in cultural mores or social norms in our society. It’s always looked at as the woman’s responsibility,” she says.

Since women face actual pregnancy, they have a higher interest in ensuring that contraception is used, says Cynthia Ruberg, a relationship and sex therapist in Columbus.

She says people’s mentalities will have to shift.

“That will take generations and different socializations for men and women,” she says.

Kerr says the United States is slow to embrace new contraception ideas.

“In America we’re so advanced,” Kerr says, “but with reproductive possibilities, we’re behind.”