[The Paris Manifesto: It's time for new male contraceptives]

Why we need more methods for male contraception

The US Supreme Court decision against abortion has once again triggered the call for male contraception. However, in addition to existing methods, there are further reasons why pharmacological reversible easy-to-use male contraception should be available. Green activists and environmentalists have to recognize that overpopulation consume resources. Medical progress results in increasing life expectancy and must be combined with contraception. Sharing the risks of contraception among partners and "Reproductive Autonomy for All" are ethical issues. The resistance of the pharmacological industry to becoming partners in male contraception must be overcome by public financial subsidies and popular demand.

Hormonal, chemical and thermal inhibition of spermatogenesis: contribution of French teams to international data with the aim of developing male contraception in France

Since the 1970s, international research on male contraception has been actively pursued. Hormonal and non-hormonal methods (thermal, chemical) have been tested, leading to clinical trials of interest to thousands of men and couples. The results showed that it was possible to develop methods of male contraception that inhibited spermatogenesis with good contraceptive efficacy. However, their side effects (mainly loss of libido), poorly accepted modes of administration, and the high frequency of poor responders prevented their widespread use. Based on earlier initiatives, new avenues were explored and significant progress was achieved, allowing the reasoned use of male contraception. For 40 years, several French teams have played an important role in this research. The aim of this paper is to outline the history and the progress of the experimental and clinical works of these teams who addressed hormonal, chemical and thermal approaches to male contraception. These approaches have led to a better comprehension of spermatogenesis that could be useful in fields other than male contraception: effects of toxic compounds, fertility preservation.