Other Nonhormonal Approaches to Male Contraception

Immunological approaches

In immunological approaches to contraception, the body is tricked into attacking its own sperm. Recently, a notable success in a small monkey study got wide press coverage (O'Rand M et al., 2004). However, immunological approaches have been plagued by uncertain return of fertility — and inter-species differences make animal successes more difficult to translate to humans than with other methods. For a thorough overview of immunocontraceptive research, see MaleContraceptives.org.

Other approaches

One doctor in Yugoslavia is sending electrical shocks through the testes to reportedly disable the sperm for about ten days (Ananova, 2005). However, based on other researchers’ results with similar approaches, this approach may lead to tissue death and lowered testosterone levels over time (personal communication, Prof. S.K. Guha , Nov. 14, 2005).

Next section: What are the next steps for male contraceptive research?