You Are NOT the Father! Reproductive Inequality and the Future of Male Birth Control
by Jodie Stone
Hugh Hodgson School of Music, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Biological Sciences, and Institute for Women’s Studies
Using The Maury Show as a cultural touchstone, this paper explores how popular media dramatizes male anxieties over paternity, revealing men’s limited control over whether and when they become fathers. By tracing the history of contraception, it becomes clear that responsibility for reproductive health and care has been disproportionately placed on women. This paper examines the physical and social consequences of failed contraception including pregnancy, childbirth, sexually transmitted diseases, and legal obligations such as child support, emphasizing that women continue to bear the greater bodily risks of unsafe sex. Highlighting the “baby trap” trope in culture and media demonstrates that male anxiety over paternity is a real and pervasive issue. The paper then surveys both failed and emerging efforts in male birth control, including an insulated testicle cap, hormonal trials, and current clinical trials such as ADAM and YCT-529. Drawing on interviews and scholarly research, it argues that although many men express openness to novel contraceptive methods, they often do not treat reproductive health as an urgent area of personal responsibility. In an increasingly female medical world, men must be prepared to advocate for their reproductive needs and take an active role in managing their fertility. Expanding male contraceptive options could promote gendered health equity, encourage greater male engagement with healthcare, and one day render dramatic paternity reveals like those on The Maury Show a relic of the past.
male birth control, feminist medicine, reproductive rights, men’s health, healthcare inequality
“When it comes to eight-month-old Brian, Kieary, you are NOT the father.”
The camera follows as an elated Kieary does a backflip and runs to high five the crowd, while his wife, Shekeita, runs away sobbing hysterically. Kieary’s mood shifts approximately one minute later, when he finds out that he is not the father of Shekieta’s other two children, Miracle, 2, and Markevious, 3. Kieary entered the show as a father of 3 and left a heartbroken father of none.
For over 30 years the Maury Show has reigned supreme, both as TV entertainment and a way for couples to publicly prove or disprove paternity. The show itself has been a way for women to publicly hold their partners accountable for the children that they have fathered. Many episodes feature nervous men, praying that they are “NOT” the father. While the Maury Show might make a spectacle of paternity testing, it reflects the deeper truth that men often have very little control over their reproductive futures. This exaggerated on-screen drama shows a centuries-old imbalance in reproductive responsibility, one that we can trace back to the earliest forms of contraception.
Condoms, like many things, have been “men’s business” since their inception in ancient times. Ancient civilizations like the Chinese, Romans, and Egyptians had condoms made of natural materials like animal organs and silk. In Europe, condoms existed throughout the Renaissance as pieces of dried animal intestine that were mainly accessible to the rich, who wanted to prevent disease and the siring of illegitimate heirs. It was not until Charles Goodyear invented the rubber condom in the 19th century that the majority of people were able to access the condom (Khan et al. 2013). This invention revolutionized condom access and became wildly popular, but many groups had objections to the condom that still echo today. Moralists and religious leaders feared that the proliferation of condoms would lead to more sexual promiscuity and go against God’s design for procreation. We can see this sentiment most evidently today in comments made by the current Surgeon General nominee, Dr. Casey Means, who argues that birth control is a “disrespect of life” (PBS 2026). Surprisingly, proto-feminists of the 19th century also took issue with condoms citing distrust in a male-centered form of birth control. Unlike herbal folk remedies that could be ingested to prevent pregnancy, condoms completely took women out of the equation and forced them to trust men with their fertility (Grover 2018).
Although condoms are the most common form of birth control today, they are the most prone to error. A review of studies on condom misuse in 2012 found that the most common errors in condom use included use-errors like failing to completely unroll the condom, leaving air in the tip contributing to breakage, and applying the condom inside out. They also identified use errors that involve intentional removal during or after intercourse. According to this study, the prevalence of these errors can be tied back to gaps in sexual education as well as maturity and attentiveness (Sander et al. 2012). Effective condom usage requires consistent self-control and careful decision making, abilities that can be compromised in the moments leading up to intercourse. Unsurprisingly, this leaves younger men at the most risk for use errors. But what are the consequences of these mistakes?
The most feared result of condom errors is unwanted fatherhood; however, unwanted motherhood bears more physical consequences. Women physically carry the child and bear cellular-level changes that can affect their health for the rest of their lives. Abigail Porter, who is also known as “The Girl with the List” on TikTok, documents women’s stories of childbirth and pregnancy and compiles them into a list that is free to access. While critics say she is scaring women away from pregnancy and motherhood, her goal is ultimately to educate and spread awareness of the realities of pregnancy and childrearing. In an interview with Her Campus at FSU, Porter said, “We need to know about the realities of what pregnancy does to our bodies. We deserve to know about that. Not in a way that shames us, but in a way that lifts us and educates us.” One memorable video talks about a woman who pushed so hard during labor that her retinas detached and she lost her eyesight as a result (Lenhard 2025). While these stories may be upsetting and graphic, they reflect the realities of pregnancy that women might be scared to share or to seek information about.
Another risk of condom use errors are sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, and these also affect can women differently and more severely than men. Diseases like HPV and chlamydia can affect both men and women, however the health consequences for women are much greater. These diseases can present as bumps or masses similar to ingrown hairs, or burning and itching that women might dismiss as a UTI or yeast infection. If a woman is asymptomatic or dismisses her symptoms, these diseases can crawl up the fallopian tubes or into the pelvic area and lead to infertility or other inflammatory pelvic diseases. HPV in particular creates an extreme risk for cervical cancer in women, however it does not present a risk of testicular cancer for men(Cleveland Clinic 2024). STDs also disproportionately affect women around the world because of the anatomical differences between the penis and the vagina. Penetrative sex can cause microlesions or tears in the thin mucosal lining of the vagina, which can allow infection to take root. This is especially prevalent in developing countries with deadly diseases such as HIV and is exacerbated by forceful or unwanted sex (Aral et al. 2004).
Women disproportionately bear the consequences of unsafe sex, and as a result, we have created institutions like government-mandated Child Support, and the Maury Show, to hold men financially and socially accountable for the children they father. With the advancements of the internet and online banking, men can have child support automatically withdrawn from their accounts and their wages garnished, eliminating the reliance on them to send a physical check. Social media and the internet also make it easier for men to be found if they try to evade responsibility (Majaski 2025).
While these factors have helped hold fathers accountable, child support does not account for a man’s consent to becoming a parent at the time of conception. The “baby trap” is a trope often used to demonize women and mothers, however it is not without some merit. Baby Trapping is when a woman intentionally becomes pregnant without a man’s knowledge or consent, usually by deceitful means, in order to gain some financial or emotional control over a man (Camp 2015). While this trope is colored by misogynistic and racist ideas in popular media, particularly in the Maury Show, the pervasiveness of this trope reflects male anxieties over their lack of reproductive agency. In this cultural context, the lack of options for male-centered birth control is particularly evident, however interest in their development has gained momentum in recent years.
In the pursuit of developing male birth control, there have been some interesting failures. One notable study done in 1992 tried to use heat to induce infertility in men by using a polyester cap that tied to the scrotum and covered the testicles, keeping body heat in and lowering sperm count. While the treatment was actually shown to be effective, the polyester testicle-cap proved to be uncomfortable and unsustainable for long-term use (Shafik 1992). A more recent failure was described in a 2016 study that sought to find a hormonally based birth control for men. Hormones were regularly administered to men by shot, and results show that the participant’s sperm counts were reduced significantly. However the researchers noticed that their participants tended to suddenly drop out from the study. After some investigation, they found that men were citing symptoms like acne, mood swings, changes in libido, and depression resulting from the treatment, causing them to drop out from the study. The study was ended after one man developed severe depression and attempted suicide because of the medication’s side effects (Behre 2016). To women online, these side effects sounded all too familiar. This initiated discussions about the side effects of birth control at large, with some women feeling disappointed that it took men’s suffering to bring the issue to light. While this study sparked productive conversation, it was ultimately a setback for male birth control and was seen as a huge failure at the time.
In recent years, the search for a male-centered birth control has been reignited. There is a new procedure currently in Phase II clinical trials called ADAM that operates similarly to a vasectomy. While vasectomy involves severing of the tube that connects the testicles to the urethra, ADAM uses a hydrogel to block the pathway and prevent sperm from entering the urethra. The procedure is reversible with the hydrogel turning into liquid and safely exiting the urethra after its proposedlifespan of 2 years. The hydrogel can also be dissolved with a solvent if needed. Although ADAM is very far along in clinical trials, with trials in Australia currently testing its efficacy on humans, it is not expected to be available to the public before the end of the decade (Campbell 2025). Another treatment being explored is a drug called YCT-529 that targets a vitamin A metabolite in the brain to prevent sperm production non-hormonally. This drug is in very early clinical trials, however, with its research currently determining its safety rather than its efficacy at lowering sperm count (Mannowetz et al. 2025).
Looking at currently available forms of birth control, the vasectomy is practically the only accessible surgical option. A vasectomy is a surgical procedure that can be done in outpatient clinics with minimal anesthesia, in which the tube that carries sperm from the testicles to the urethra is severed. The procedure is minimally invasive, making recovery quite short. Vasectomies are not recommended to younger men because they are costly to reverse and can be less effective and carry more risks of infection and injury further from the original operation date. Ensuring a vasectomy’s effectiveness also requires follow-up appointments to confirm that sperm counts stay low and that the tube has not healed itself (Cleveland Clinic 2025). The problem is that many men do not go to follow-up appointments. Studies have found that the compliance rate for a 6-week follow-up appointment stays around 50% and drops to less than 10% for the one-year follow-up appointment (Kalafalla et al. 2024). This highlights the broader issue that men often demonstrate limited engagement and responsibility over their reproductive health, even after a costly procedure.
With the availability of male birth control on the far horizon, there are questions about whether or not men will be willing to use it to take control of their reproductive freedom. A 2021 systematic review found that both quantitative and qualitative studies show that there is consistent interest in novel male contraception and willingness to use them from both men and women (Reynolds-Wright et al. 2021). In my own research, I informally polled a few of my male friends who stated that they would be willing to use a male birth control, and that they did not feel that their masculinity was tied to their fertility. This refutes the implicit myth that restricting a man’s reproductive capacity can lead to feelings of emasculation; however, I was surprised at their indifference to the issue at large. It seems that men are open to the idea of male birth control, but they are not very interested in taking an active role to make this a reality.
I also spoke with Dr. Rumya Putcha, a music and gender studies professor at UGA. She told me about her experiences teaching gender studies to a largely apathetic male population. Her experience was that the men who took her courses did not feel a sense of urgency regarding gender studies because they felt that it did not directly impact them. This was in line with what I experienced in my interviews. I felt that it was not that they did not have opinions about male birth control, they just did not feel that it was their problem to care about. With the burden of reproductive care and control historically being placed on women, men do not truly fear unwanted pregnancies until they happen. This has led us to a time where men seek to control women’s reproductive freedom despite not having much agency of their own.
In the past decade, healthcare industry has seen more women applying and enrolling in medical school than men (Nietzel 2024). While I do not believe that a female medical future will cause men’s health to be ignored, we are looking at a future where men may get healthcare providers who do not share their lived experiences. The question is, how are we preparing men for a future of advocacy for their needs? And are we already seeing the cultural consequences of a female medical future?
It could be said that online trends towards alpha-male masculinity and bodybuilding show that men are already feeling the need to create spaces for themselves free of competition from women. These spaces promote health trends like carnivore diets, increasing testosterone, and other very “male” fads for men to feel a greater sense of agency over their bodies. By putting so many burdens and pressures on women, we created a population of resilient, hardworking women and have left men to compete without the skills or tools needed. As more women enter medicine and men continue to struggle to define their roles and responsibilities in a changing world, expanding reproductive agency to men could serve as a bridge between genders. Equal and shared control over fertility might be a powerful equalizing force in the long history of gender inequality.
Currently, women are often expected to take primary responsibility for their own reproductive health, from getting regular Pap smears to managing birth control. As women age, many also experience menopause, which can require medical intervention due to symptoms that affect quality of life. Although annual physicals are recommended for everyone, men often go longer without them because their biology does not force regular encounters with the healthcare system until later in life, when issues such as hypertension or heart disease become more prevalent. Encouraging men to have more regular contact with physicians would not only help them access and be aware of available birth control methods, but also improve their overall health and quality of life. However, it would also require a heavy push for primary care physicians to make sure that reproductive health is discussed and information on new birth control methods is available to patients.
In the end, Kieary’s backflip on the Maury stage is not just a dramatic TV gag; it is a cautionary tale that reveals a deeper societal truth. “You are NOT the father!” makes for great TV, but it also highlights the truth that men historically have had little control over whether or not they become fathers. One day, “You are NOT the father!” might not be a dramatic reveal or funny punchline, it could be a choice and a shared responsibility between two people; a step towards real reproductive inequality. Until then, Maury reminds us that agency matters, and as of right now, men are still catching up.
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Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Dr. Holly Gallagher for her guidance and support on this project, and for patiently tolerating some of my earlier drafts. I am also grateful to Dr. Rumya Putcha for agreeing to be interviewed for this project and for encouraging me to explore my less hinged ideas. I cannot express how immensely thankful to both professors for their roles in making this paper possible. Finally, I want to thank and apologize to my family and friends who have heard me rant, ramble, and rave about this project for the last couple of months.
Citation Style: Chicago Author-Date