Shared risk and shared responsibility: the ethics of male contraceptives

Efforts to develop reversible male contraceptives analogous to female oral contraceptives are underway and may be introduced in the next decade. The advent of novel male contraceptives provides an opportunity for an ethical reformulation of the contraceptive paradigm given the relational, rather than individual, nature of sexual relationships, and family planning. For individuals in any sexual relationship that could result in pregnancy, issues of reproductive autonomy, freedom, equality in reproductive decision-making and risks-both of side effects and of unintended pregnancies-are significant. Historically, however, women have been attributed the greatest responsibilities simultaneously with the most restrictions on their freedom of choice and access to reproductive care.

In this paper, we extend our prior "shared risk" model of male contraception to one of "shared risk and responsibility" to ethically inform this discourse.

This updated framework more fully captures the complexity of this novel technology and may be of use to regulatory and legal agencies grappling with an intervention that poses medical risks to the member of the relationship who does not face risks of becoming pregnant.