Shoot Your Shot: Is Male Birth Control Finally Here?

From an evolutionary perspective, passing your genes on to the next generation is kind of the whole name of the game.

And over millions, nay, billions of years, if you can have a lot of babies and they live long and prosper, well, you're living that natural selection dream, baby.

But even though sex is a fundamental part of life, humans have a bit of a complicated relationship with that particular evolutionary imperative.

Because while we love making babies, we've also spent a very long time trying to master the art of not making them.

And let me tell you, our ancestors got creative.

Condoms, for one, have been around for a very long time.

We have evidence of ancient Egyptians using linen, Romans using sheep and goat intestines.

Yum.

And ancient Chinese civilizations using silk.

How effective they were? Hard to say.

But hey, gold stars for industriousness.

And when it came to preventing pregnancy on the female side, well, things got more adventurous and also dangerous.

Some...

Early approaches included people inserting crocodile dung up there, drinking lead-contaminated blacksmith water, consuming mercury, and my personal favorite, a reported practice from New Brunswick involved dried beaver testicles steeped in alcohol.

One extra dirty beaver testini coming right up.

So yes, contraception has not always been exactly evidence-based.

But then, in the 20th century, scientists started figuring out what was actually going on inside the reproductive system.

And in 1960, the FDA approved the world's first oral contraceptive.

And just like that, the pill was born.

Today, people who can become pregnant and who have access to contraception have an entire list of options.

Pills, injections, implants, IUDs, patches, rings, you name it.

But for the folks serving up the sperm, the menu is considerably shorter.