Here's a "what if" for today

coasterqueen wrote: I was driving to work listening to the radio and the dj's were talking about this birth control pill that is supposedly going to be out in 5 years for men to take. They were discussing the issue of should men really take this or just leave it to the responsibility of women.

What if this pill really existed now, would you think that it's time for your SO to take the responsibility on instead of you? Would you trust him? What if you were single but seriously dating someone, would you expect men to be more involved with the birth control issue than just condoms or expecting a woman to take care of it?

I'm interested to hear your views. The male DJ on the show who is married said that he thinks it should be left up to the woman because women are more responsible at remembering to take them. The female DJ said it's high time men take on some responsibility in that department and she thinks he should take them. Almost everyone who called in were women and they agreed with the female DJ. Only one call-in woman said it should not be their responsibility.

I have so many thoughts on this from a married standpoint and from a once single standpoint but I need to think about them so I can get them down on here without writing a novel.

MomToMany replied: Hmmmm, interesting!

Being married, I think it would be great if DH could take responsibility for it. Also since I'm breastfeeding, I don't want to take anything with hormones.

As a single woman, I think its up to the woman to take responsibility for it. It's her life, and if she doesn't want a baby, then she should use some form of BC.

I'm sure there will me many more points of view on this!

Boys r us replied: my response could gt quite long..so I'll make it brief!

I would trust my husband to take the pill b/f I wold trust myself..I can tell unow, if Rick had been on the pill 3 yrs ago, I wouldn't have Braedon
He's so anal about things in general, not to mention planning our family. It makes him CRAZY that I'm not on ANY BC right now(bc stmulates my migraines)but he understands.

Now if I were single..I would trust men with the pill, but I would also want to use condoms to prevent STD. I think in most cases it is pretty fair to say that most men who are single and young DO NOT WANT A BABY!
So I feel like that aspect of it, I could trust, but I would still have back up just for the STD factor.

This really isn't something I can answer hypothetically b/c it really would all be dependant on the man and the depth of our relationship!

jcc64 replied: It's a case by case thing, right? I could see some horny guy claiming, "Yeah, yeah, I took it, sure..." just to get laid. Maybe there could be some chemical reaction if he really took the pill that would turn the forehead blue or something if he's good to go...
Seriously, idk. Somehow I think there's a lot more research $$$ going into erectile dysfunction than relaible male bcp.

coasterqueen replied: Let's see how I can word this without writing a book. I think it's great that there will be something so men can share in the responsibility. Just looking at this from the greater spectrum, I think some men (not all and not bashing anyone) don't want the responsibility of birth control BUT they don't want to have babies either. We are in the days that people think IF you are going to decide whether to have a baby or not (after you are already pg) that men should be a part of the decision. Well if they can be apart of the decision on that they should be part of the decision/responsibility of birth control as well. Right?

As a wife, I don't think I can trust my Dh to take them. I ask him to help remind me to do certain things on a daily basis and he totally forgets. Although I think if a man really doesn't want to have a zillion babies running around he might be more apt to be responsible...I think DH would do that if it meant that.

As a single person (once was) I obviously would use condoms to prevent the std nature but I remember dating a lot of men who were like "oh you are on the pill? Cool, we don't have to worry about anything!" And they didn't even want to use a condom (although we did). I found that men were "lax" in this department and just assume women are taking something or being "in charge" of the birth control issue. I also encountered men in my years that were dating women who they got pg and they said "I just assumed she was taking something". I think that mentality needs to stop really because these tend to be the same people who get upset when the women do not want to have an abortion and "ruin" their lives.

Now I'm not bashing men at all, and not saying any men on this board at all are like what I mentioned. This is only what I've encountered in my real life.

Overall I think it would be great for a man to take them. I know I don't like taking them, I don't like what they do to my body? Why should a woman be the only one who has to do this?

I will be curious to see how this whole man pill thing plays out when it does or if it does come out. We are seeing more and more men take on the responsibility of "getting fixed" these days so maybe more men will want to take on this responsibility too.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: For me it would depend on the side effects, and if there are any long term effects of the pill - which they wouldn't know until men had been taking it for awhile.
I don't take bc pills for a couple of reasons one being I don't want all those hormones messing with my body. If I refuse to do it to my body I could hardly expect my Dh to take the risk I'm unwilling to take. JMO.

coasterqueen replied:
Ooooh very good point Sara. I mentioned I didn't want to take them because of what they did for my body so I shouldn't expect my DH to do the same. Thanks for that outlook, that is true.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Husband, yes
Boyfriend, no. Of course I wouldn't be having sex with a boyfriend so I guess it's a moot point for me.

A&A'smommy replied: I have heard about this probably on the news or something.... anyway I don't care I would just assume I would take it... plus if its new I would wait a little while to see how high the side effects are (thinking of vioxx and several others)

DansMom replied: Like Sara, I'd be worried about the medical implications. That's part of my personality---I've always used the barrier method, because I don't want to mess with my hormones. I rarely take medication for anything. I prefer, also, to be in control of BC, because then I know it's done right. I sound like a control freak!

ediep replied: my Dh is very bad about taking medication, he always forgets, so I wouldn't trust him to take it.

Josie83 replied: I would trust my own husband, but if I weren't with him i don't think I would trust in it if you know what I mean. I would probably still take mine as well xx

gr33n3y3z replied: Hmmm......
I will tell you my stand point of me

Both my mother and her sister had breast cancer so no Dr in this world would put me on them. So my GREAT hubby took care of that problem 4 children later
But until that time we both used something

Now that I have 2 older boys 18 and 20
I told them if they choose to have sex which I hope not but I know my 20 year old is active with his girlfriend I told them BOTH they BOTH better use protection and she is on the pill and my son uses a condom.

The 18 year old told me he is going to wait for the right girl .... so I hope he still feels this way with his new Girl friend.

3forme replied: I think men should take some responsibility. Since I am married I would say yes, I would like my dh to take it if it had no side effects, etc.

BUT if I was single, I would probably take on the responsibility myself. Look at it from the other side...how many guys "thought" that their girlfreind was protected and they end up having to support a child? That is a two way street so I say everyone should take responsibility for themselves.

It will be interesting to see if this pill really comes to fruition. It would be great if men in general played a more "take charge" role in the reproduction department.

Just my

loveydad replied: *sighs* I would take it. I mean even as a single person, if it had been out five years ago, I would have taken it.

mommy2owen replied: hmmm....very interesting!!!

kimberley replied: i would have to say no because i am a control freak . it is such a huge responsibility with serious consequences if you screw up... i guess i just want the control of knowing that i am protected. now, if DH were the one to get pg if he screwed up, well then maybe i wouldn't be so worried

MomofJandB replied: I don't know! I would worry about my DH remembering to take it and would probably be on his case all the time about it. It's not an issue anymore because he got "fixed". But in the past it would have been nice because I can't take BC pills due to a genetic disorder that puts me at higher risks for blod clots. I like the idea of men having some of the responsibility. If I were single, I would definitely want some reassurance that BC was taken care of so I would still want to use something that i knew was there, like a condom. Being married, I would also be concerned for the side affects. That's a tough question.

3_call_me_mama replied: DH would totally take them. As a matter or fact he looked into seeing if such a thing were available here or in other countries so that i wouldn't have to take anything (mainly because i struggle with my weight so much and bc pills inhibit weight loss at least for me). Same goes for sterilization, if one of us has it done he said he will cause i have had to go through enough carrying adn delivering 2 children that it was his turn to take some of hte responsibility (although i offered to have it done if he had carried and delivered kat for me LOL) !