Two women debate whether they would trust their man to use contraceptive gel daily

SCIENTISTS are working on a contraceptive gel that men rub into their arms.

Hormones in the gel, which could be available by 2021, render the sperm count zero if it is used daily for four months.

But would you trust your other half to take charge of birth control? We asked two of the Fabulous Daily team.

YES, says Lynsey Clarke

PSST, guess what? There’s a new ­contraception method in town which doesn’t involve pills, caps of spermicide or trips to the local clinic for a jab in the bum. Turns out a simple gel can stop unplanned pregnancies too.

But before you think your days of laying legs akimbo while a nurse stuffs a coil inside your uterus are over, this is the Yorkie of contraceptives.

That is, it’s not for girls.

Blokes using this fancy-pants hormone cream for 120 days will cut their sperm count to zero – provided they remember to lather up daily.

One boffin who helped develop it praised the breakthrough for being “more convenient” than men having “repeated injections”.

And previous trials of the male contraceptive pill were cut short due to the severe side-effects including acne and mood ­disorders.

Inconvenience, bad skin, mood swings?

Par for the course with women’s contraceptives, of course, along with weight gain, reduced libido, migraines and anxiety.

So within a few years our big, tough blokes will be able to share the ­responsibility of birth control by using a hassle-free soothing balm.

And I for one will be taking full ­advantage.

I’m not advocating that one should jump into the sack with a random man after asking “Are you on the gel?”, having a sniff for eau de hormone or feeling how baby-soft the skin on their arm is.

But if you’re in a trusting relationship with someone who you don’t consider to be an absolute waste of space, why not allow yourself some contraceptive respite?

Most blokes I know spend longer in the bathroom pampering than us girls, and tend to fancy themselves as the more ­efficient gender.

Plus, they think about sex 388 times a day – if one of those instances doesn’t turn their minds to this extra ritual, they can just ask Alexa to set a reminder, right?

If they slip up, it could result in an unplanned bundle of puke and poo, but what woman can honestly say she’s never forgotten to take her Pill?

The responsibility has rested with us for long enough, and if this potion means I can forgo a splitting head, acne-ridden skin and bouts of anxiety for a bit, I’m willing to risk it.

NO
says Joely Chilcott

EVERY couple of years, a new form of male contraception is said to be a step closer to becoming reality.

And women can be heard cheering that they could soon be freed from the ­shackles of acne, mood swings and lack of libido that partner birth control.

But I, and it might be my hormones ­talking, cannot join the celebration.

There is not one part of me that would relinquish control over my own fertility.

The thought makes me want to crawl into a ball and never have sex again. Sorry lads, but this is just too much of a responsibility for us to let go.

I can’t trust my boyfriend to remember to put the bins out, let alone take charge of putting on a gel every day to stop ME ­getting pregnant.

Yes, it’s unfair that women are expected to put chemicals into our bodies just to limit the risk of unplanned pregnancies.

And yes, I do think everyone who makes the decision to have sex is accountable.

But the prospect of a surprise bun in the oven is too much of a gamble for me. Whichever way you look at it, it is still us women who become pregnant and have to deal with the consequences – and we need to protect ourselves.

The creation of a male contraceptive pill was said to be advancing in 2016, but trials had to be halted because the side-effects were too much for the poor, suffering guys.

I can feel your eyes rolling too, but I’m not even surprised.

Of course women have a higher ­tolerance than men – we have to put up with them, after all.

Since the Pill was made available on the NHS in 1961, men have had to trust women they won’t become dads.

And for some, that trust has backfired which is completely unfair.

But ultimately, it’s us women it affects the most.

Perhaps I’m a control freak, but I still can’t see it working the other way around.

We have all heard those dodgy chat-up lines men use to get girls in the sack.

Imagine if his last resort was “We GEL together, you know what I mean?” in the hope he’d get some that night – only for you to find out nine months later that his hair gel was his only lotion.

I’ll pop a pill any day over that, thanks.