In 2018, a handful of couples ditched their birth control to embark on a one-year trial of a hormonal topical gel as their only contraceptive. This gel, however, was for men to use in order to suppress their sperm levels enough that they wouldn’t impregnate their partner. Over the next 6 years, 200 monogamous couples at 15 sites worldwide completed this experiment as part of a phase 2 clinical trial for the gel, which may become the first available hormonal male birth control.
