Hello, could you introduce yourself?
My name is Manon Lacroix and I recently moved to Nantes. I am a general practitioner at the end of my studies and I am preparing a thesis about the experience of users of the so-called male thermal contraception that I will submit in 2023.
I have not had the opportunity to accompany many patients for thermal contraception, but I plan to be able to do so more in the future.
In Nantes, I am in contact with the G.O.N.A.D.E.S, a group that organizes discussion forums on male and testicular contraception and workshops on making contraceptive tools.
How did you become interested in male contraception?
I've been very interested in reproductive health for a while, but the topic of male thermal contraception kind of fell into my lap.
I had some knowledge about "heated" underwear, but one day a patient came to my office because he needed a spermogram for his contraceptive follow-up. A few other patients came to see me for the same reasons. These requests made me want to know more about this method and when I looked into it, I noticed a significant lack of data on the subject, especially in terms of feedback from patients using it and their profiles.
As a physician, it is always good to be able to recommend alternative methods to couples who have reached an impasse after using several unsatisfactory contraceptives. Some couples I have met have opted for the thermal method but I have had little feedback. On the other hand, talking about contraception with a man in a general practitioner's office is not a given. Nevertheless, talking about it more could allow prescribing appropriate methods in some cases and responding to requests.
Vasectomy is easier to talk about, especially with couples who have children and no longer want them. The operation is still mainly performed by urologists, but it is technically quite simple compared to other contraceptive procedures and can be performed under local anesthesia. In Nantes, for example, it is performed by general practitioners from the Family Planning organization.
For you, what are the issues surrounding male contraception?
Male contraception is sometimes presented as a feminist issue.
As a feminist activist, I think that access to male contraception can address certain situations of inequity, but it is not the only answer, and it would be a bit easy to reduce it to a simple feminist issue.
One could very well turn the question around completely, and present male contraception as a way for men to (re)take control over their partners' bodies, or even to protect themselves from "perverse" women who want to have children behind their backs... Thus, it seems to me to be reductive to make it a purely "feminist" or "masculinist" issue, as each user has found personal and intimate motivations at the origin of his or her approach.
On the other hand, I see it as a real public health issue because the demand already exists. I assume that anything that can help to better take into account the needs of patients and to accompany them is good to take. The need for contraception changes according to the person, their body, their partner(s), but also the time frame in which they find themselves, throughout their lives. It is important that they have the choice to use appropriate contraception and, if necessary, to share it with their partner.
And so, what would it take for so-called male contraception to develop?
Funding! We know that the demand exists and the press has been reporting on it for years. Moreover, the number of vasectomies has increased tenfold over the last ten years. We need to find ways to finance the pharmaceutical industry, which could then promote clinical studies that are lacking today and bring new products to the market.
With a new accessible and regulated offer, I imagine that we would see the emergence of a new form of demand, more mixed and broader, for a more equitable contraception accessible to all.
Thanks to Manon for her contribution.
"Until 2021, I didn't know of any male contraception."
When I met my current girlfriend we were using only condoms.
She chose to try the copper IUD because the pills and hormones were not working for her.
Other than condoms, we didn't have any prevention through other means in high school, and in my family, we only talked about condoms and pills in general. So I thought women took the pill and men took a condom. I didn't think I was looking for another method of contraception yet.
In October 2021, we learn that the IUD has slipped and that we are expecting a little one.
Are we ready? Does my girlfriend want to stop her studies? Do we have the means to welcome a child in a cocoon so that it develops and flourishes?
To all this we said no.
That's when abortion was the trigger for me.
This surgery was very upsetting for us, I couldn't even imagine all the questions my girlfriend was asking and I felt helpless.
I decided to look for and test the Andro-switch ring so that this mental load would be distributed in our couple. A friend of mine had published a few weeks before on the networks his approach with the ring. So I asked him some questions about it. He even presented me some results of his analysis.
So I went to my doctor to get a spermogram prescription and a prescription to buy the ring.
I only found out afterwards that it was on sale on the official website thoreme.com and I ordered it directly. So I couldn't compare it with other male contraceptives, but it suits me very well.
We now have 2 contraceptives: hormone IUD for her and ring for me. We are in the process of analyzing the spermograms to perhaps free my girlfriend from the hormones. We realize that even doctors are a little confused when we ask them to analyze spermograms and advise us if one contraception is better than another. That's why we're still hesitant to switch to a single contraceptive in our relationship.
I didn't feel any change in my relationship to masculinity.
The major drawback is the adaptation to the high position of the testicles. It took a good month to be comfortable in all positions, especially the sitting position and some movements when I practice my sport. The advantages are multiple I find since it can be removed at any time in case of discomfort, it is a mechanical system and therefore no hormonal change to fear. It brought me closer to my girlfriend, I think also, it is a way to show that we are listening and that the man can very well be interested in contraception at his level.
Compared to others, I receive a lot of questions, generally benevolent, and unfortunately, these questions come a lot from women. That's why I try to communicate as much as possible on the networks about this and to raise awareness among men at least to inform them."
Thank you to Cyril for his testimony and his commitment to Entrelac.coop!
"Hello Alan, are we on first-name or last-name terms?
We are on first-name terms, of course.
Can you introduce yourself?
Alan Charissou, general practitioner practicing in family planning for a little more than 10 years, fully concerned by contraception in my life as a couple and furiously concerned by contraception in my life as the father of a teenager.
Within the Entrelac.coop cooperative, I am in charge of the medical coordination of projects aiming at developing access to male contraception in French-speaking Europe.
Why male contraception?
Because 90% of women will experience an unplanned pregnancy at least once in their lives; because every year in France, 370,000 women will suffer 100% of the physical, professional and social consequences of an unplanned pregnancy.
And that during this time, men provide only 12% of the contraceptive load of couples in France. Not even 2% of French men have a vasectomy, compared to 8% in Belgium or more than 20% in England.
In short, it is both a major public health problem - the health impact of which unfortunately goes completely under the radar of public health - but also because it is the scene of a most scandalous inequality between women and men.
In your opinion, what is missing today for this to develop?
10 million euros over 10 years, or less than 3€ per woman who has an unplanned pregnancy over the same period... It makes you wonder about the potential economic impact of any new contraceptive method in terms of cost reduction for the health insurance (an unplanned pregnancy costs much more than 3€ to the "social security"...) and what can be said about the health of the woman, the sharing of the mental burden, the balance within couples... So money above all.
For the rest, studies show that society is ready and that 2-3 methods are already very promising. Ah... I forgot, a small dose of political courage is still missing... which is cruelly lacking despite the political commitment of the last few years to reduce inequalities between women and men.
What do you think an initiative like Entrelac.coop can bring?
For me, Entrelac.Coop is the tool that has the best chance of bringing together all the forces capable of :
- Raise funds for research,
- To network competent researchers on the subject in French-speaking Europe,
- Engage politicians in the development of male contraception.
That is all I expect from you my dear Antoine!"
Thanks to Alan for this interview and his investment.
" Anouck,
I wear a male birth control ring because it's easy.
It doesn't hurt, it doesn't bother me and it makes me infertile, it's reversible and it doesn't cost much. My only constraint is the regular spermograms I have to do.
When I compare this method to the problems of female contraception, I am shaken, no pun intended 🙂 To hear the violence of your stories about your IUD insertion, the side effects of the pill, the time spent at the gynecologist's office, I think it's unfair to you. It's normal, knowing all this, to take charge of the contraception in our relationship.
I don't want you to feel bad about something that concerns us both. I don't want you to have copper inside you, pills, on top of your period, when I can just wear 10 grams of silicone on my cock.
Antoine "
We are already 100 people who support the Entrelac.coop project financially and actively. Thank you to all these members who keep the cooperative alive! Here's a look back at a year of adventures!
A year ago, we were already well aware of Maxime Labrit's project and the success of his Andro-switch (testicular thermal ring). We knew that he was in discussion with the ANSM concerning the distribution of his product on the market without CE marking. The idea of Entrelac.coop began to take shape.
In December, when the ANSM decided to suspend the distribution of Andro-switch, we set ourselves the task of helping the company put it back on the market in a sustainable way. That's how we began to support them in the regulatory certification of Andro-switch.
Given the scope of the work to be done, we decided to do this work collectively. The momentum that was created would allow other women with male contraceptive device projects to benefit from similar support and thus have a greater impact on contraceptive equity.
In March, we started to present our project: more than 100 curious people were present at our presentation meetings. Among them, 20 people mobilized to create the cooperative in its different aspects: statutes, visual identity, website, advocacy strategy. This allowed us to officially create Entrelac.coop last June.
Today, Entrelac.coop already has 100 members. We are very grateful for this and we are sure that this growing group will have a strong impact on contraceptive practices and the way they are viewed.
What better date than World Contraception Day to reaffirm the urgent need for contraceptive equity?
On September 26th, more than 100 people, members, friends and curious people gathered to celebrate the creation of Entrelac.coop .
La Cité Audacieuse, a Parisian third place dedicated to feminism, co-organized the event and lent its hall for the evening. A big thank you to Solène, Philippine and Anne-Cécile without whom this event would never have taken place!
We were accompanied by Pierre Colin and Philippe Lapôtre, co-founders of ARDECOM, Bobika, author of the comic book "Le Coeur des Zobs", the collective Zero Millions Anne-Sophie Delcour, author of the comic book "L'homme sous pilule" and Guillaume Blot, photojournalist who produced the series "Parti Intime".
The evening was an opportunity to meet each other, under the lens of Guillaume!
Hello, could you introduce yourself?
My name is Manon Lacroix and I recently moved to Nantes. I am a general practitioner at the end of my studies and I am preparing a thesis about the experience of users of the so-called male thermal contraception that I will submit in 2023.
I have not had the opportunity to accompany many patients for thermal contraception, but I plan to be able to do so more in the future.
In Nantes, I am in contact with the G.O.N.A.D.E.S, a group that organizes discussion forums on male and testicular contraception and workshops on making contraceptive tools.
How did you become interested in male contraception?
I've been very interested in reproductive health for a while, but the topic of male thermal contraception kind of fell into my lap.
I had some knowledge about "heated" underwear, but one day a patient came to my office because he needed a spermogram for his contraceptive follow-up. A few other patients came to see me for the same reasons. These requests made me want to know more about this method and when I looked into it, I noticed a significant lack of data on the subject, especially in terms of feedback from patients using it and their profiles.
As a physician, it is always good to be able to recommend alternative methods to couples who have reached an impasse after using several unsatisfactory contraceptives. Some couples I have met have opted for the thermal method but I have had little feedback. On the other hand, talking about contraception with a man in a general practitioner's office is not a given. Nevertheless, talking about it more could allow prescribing appropriate methods in some cases and responding to requests.
Vasectomy is easier to talk about, especially with couples who have children and no longer want them. The operation is still mainly performed by urologists, but it is technically quite simple compared to other contraceptive procedures and can be performed under local anesthesia. In Nantes, for example, it is performed by general practitioners from the Family Planning organization.
For you, what are the issues surrounding male contraception?
Male contraception is sometimes presented as a feminist issue.
As a feminist activist, I think that access to male contraception can address certain situations of inequity, but it is not the only answer, and it would be a bit easy to reduce it to a simple feminist issue.
One could very well turn the question around completely, and present male contraception as a way for men to (re)take control over their partners' bodies, or even to protect themselves from "perverse" women who want to have children behind their backs... Thus, it seems to me to be reductive to make it a purely "feminist" or "masculinist" issue, as each user has found personal and intimate motivations at the origin of his or her approach.
On the other hand, I see it as a real public health issue because the demand already exists. I assume that anything that can help to better take into account the needs of patients and to accompany them is good to take. The need for contraception changes according to the person, their body, their partner(s), but also the time frame in which they find themselves, throughout their lives. It is important that they have the choice to use appropriate contraception and, if necessary, to share it with their partner.
And so, what would it take for so-called male contraception to develop?
Funding! We know that the demand exists and the press has been reporting on it for years. Moreover, the number of vasectomies has increased tenfold over the last ten years. We need to find ways to finance the pharmaceutical industry, which could then promote clinical studies that are lacking today and bring new products to the market.
With a new accessible and regulated offer, I imagine that we would see the emergence of a new form of demand, more mixed and broader, for a more equitable contraception accessible to all.
Thanks to Manon for her contribution.
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