Cav's Place

Considering the fact that safe, reliable and easily accessible contraception is of crucial importance if we are to ever solve the overpopulation problem and that I see human overpopulation as by far the greatest problem this world is facing, it seems quite odd that I have hardly mentioned the issue so far. But now I mean to rectify that, especially since not writing about it hardly means not thinking about it. The fact that this post has been in my drafts for just about a year and a half should serve as some proof of that.

Since I firmly believe that most people alive today, myself included, must never have children, the most suitable birth control metods would obviously be the permanent ones. However, those tend to involve surgery, which is not something people tend to look forward to. I for one certainly won’t apply for a vasectomy in the foreseeable future, despite knowing that permanent sterilization would be the right thing to do, simply because it involves surgery. Not to mention that it seems to have some troubling long-term side effects. Plus that, as a person who sees oral sex as the most important part of the strictly physical side of sex, I’m wondering what does removing the sperm from semen do to its taste, because if it would somehow make it less desirable for heterosexual women and homosexual men then we are faced with yet another problem.
On the other hand, assuming they desire contraception in the first place, most people would still be bothered by the permanent methods simply because they’re permanent. They want to know they’ll have the option to change their mind in the future. That means they would shy away from the permanent methods even if they would not involve surgery and risks. It’s clearly not the right attitude if we are to reduce the population, but persuading them not to have children now buys the time needed to persuade them not to have them in the future either.

Which means that a look at the most common complaints regarding the most commonly used and easily accessible effective birth control methods is in order. Those would obviously be male condoms and female birth control pills.
Still, I wouldn’t put condoms in the same category as everything else because they are the only currently effective method of protecting people who have casual sex from contacting STDs. That means they would still have a purpose even if everyone would move on to other birth control methods, simply because a lot of people would still need the kind of protection they offer and would have no other means of obtaining it. Actually, the incidence of STDs around the world indicates that many more people should use them far more often, but that’s another issue.
That leaves us with the female birth control pills. They have a distinct advantage over all other currently available methods because they don’t require surgery, don’t require periodic injections, don’t take away from the spontaneity of the act, don’t directly interfere with the sensations and offer protection during an unlimited number of encounters at the same price. That instantly puts them above implants and other surgical methods, shots, spermicides and the strictly contraceptive use of condoms. The fact that their use is not noticeable also puts them above patches and rings (though some research might suggest that some women prefer the rings).
On the other hand, they are pills which must be taken over a long period of time, which means it’s hard to avoid the undesirable side effects. That problem is made worse by the fact that they’re a hormonal treatment, affecting a very delicate balance within the body. Of course, they can also fix already existing imbalances, but a lot depends on the skill of the doctor who prescribes them. Another common complaint is that they cause weight gain, though that’s not actually the case. Still, perhaps the most worrying aspect is that they must be taken daily in order to be effective and people sometimes forget, which sparks debates over their availability. As long as those debates result in better methods, it’s all good, but I fear they might result in restricting access to existing methods before truly better ones would become readily available and affordable…
As a side note, an interesting use of birth control pills could be stopping periods, which, despite the general belief, only have to be a part of a woman’s life if she’s currently trying to conceive. I think that, as soon as the cultural reluctance to the concept will be overcome, treatments aimed specifically at eliminating periods are going to be quite sought after.

But most of that deals with women. Save for using condoms or having a vasectomy, there aren’t many things men can currently do for the purpose of contraception. But that seems about to change, offering more choice for couples and also allowing men to have better control over their reproduction. That can only be a good thing, even though some of the proposed methods are questionable.
Research towards developing a birth control pill for men similar to those used by women has been going on for quite some time, and the results show, even though the side effects reported by men who test these pills tend to be more severe than those reported by most women who take oral contraceptives. But I think that, seeing as non-hormonal methods have the potential of also being effective, more emphasis should be placed on that area of the research. Any results could then be used to try to develop similar treatments for women as well, hopefully allowing those who desire only the contraceptive effect to get rid of most of the side effects associated with hormonal treatments.

As long as there will be continued interest and new developments in this area, I’m sure it won’t be long until enough safe, effective and easily accessible birth control methods will become available so that everyone will be able to find the one suitable for them. Convincing everyone to use them at all times, even preventively for those who are not currently sexually active, however, is another matter entirely…