Conference quark::mennotes-v1

    
    
    Oh no!! No way!!
    	A needle injected into the testicles????
    	Man, that would be birth control for true blue masochists!!!
    
    
    Gene
    (who still remembers the old army joke about the square needle)

    Just thinking about how and where the drug is administered is enough 
    to make me shy away from the idea. :')

    
    re .2
    
    What square needle joke...?

    
    
    re: base note
    
    	Why wouldn't you want your wife to take the current birth control
    pills?  I have been on the pill for three years now with absolutely
    no side effects.  The pills that are out today are low dose.  They
    are also the safest to date.  Just wondering why?
    
    Mi

    re: .6
    
    I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that the good thing
    about this new method is that the man knows HE is fully protected
    against having children.  Current birth control pills are very
    effective, but the man cannot control how correctly a woman takes
    them (likewise the diaphragm, IUD (yes, they're back), cervical cap,
    etc.)   This method and the condom, both being completely controlled
    by the man, would be very good in a situation where the man may
    not want to completely (or even partially) rely on the partner for 
    protection.  I would hope, of course, this new method is completely
    reversible - otherwise it's just a new form of partial/total 
    sterilization.

    -Jody
    

    If this stuff is not reversible, why would anyone opt for a chemical
    injection into the testicles when a vasectomy will accomplish the
    same thing without the uncertainty of there being any long range side
    effects.  If it is reversible, I still wouldn't use it because of
    concern for long range side effects.  By the time those issues are
    resolved, I suspect I will be past the need for birth control.
    
    Mike

    re: .6
    
    I agree with you that the pharmaceutical industry has greatly improved
    the female birth control pill. Doses are much smaller now, as are
    side effects. However, a drug is a drug. Epidemiologists know that
    some biological problems take decades to develop. I wouldn't want
    my wife to trust the epidemiological projections of Ortho's private
    scientists. Besides, she is a certified natural family planning
    instructor (Creighton Univeristy, 1979). She's also a labor and
    delivery BSN. I trust her judgment in these matters.
    
    -- PK
                                  

    
    
    RE .4
    
    	I can only speak for what happens in the Air Force, but I believe
    the "square needle" story is told throughout all the branches.
    	For new inductees in Boot Camp, your group is assigned several
    other inductees who have been through half of their boot camp training.
    These other inductees are supposed to watch over you and guide you.
    It seems there is a custom that has these overseers tell the new
    inductees that part of their medical is to have a "square needle"
    injected into the left testical.  This usually has a most chilling
    effect on a new inductee, who is already scared to death.
    	You should hear about some of the other "psychological stunts"
    that the DI and others pull on new recruits.  Some people have
    snapped under these "stunts".
    
    

    
    You mean the smart kids they get in the air force would swallow
    such a story? 
    
    Sheesh.
    
    My basic had some people snap. They were ones who never should have
    been accepted in the first place. 
    
    

    Well, maybe the men were treated badly by their *big-brother* flight,
    but I know our *big-sister* flight were wonderful to us, and I was
    on duty when our *little-sister* flight got in...
    
    As far as I know, and with the expereince I experienced - it was
    an extremely helpful time - a time to ask questions, and to have
    fears quieted just a little....  I enjoyed that night our little
    sister flight got in...  
    
    Then again, I can only speak for the latter part of 1973...
    
    Gale

    
    .6  FYI.  I am one of those few women that cannot even consider
        taking birth control pills.  I was on them years ago, the lowest
        dose possible, and almost died because of it.  My body completely
    	refused it, causing massive blood clots internally.  BTW, I
    	have a friend in the department who told me that a 17 year old
    	girl died last week because she was on the pill and got blood
    	clots.  The doctors thought they had them under control but
    	one made its way to the brain.  I guess everyone is different.
    
     .7 Sounds like you are not too trustworthy of your partner.  Perhaps
    	I'm wrong but that's the impression I got from your message.
     	That's sad but perhaps very true.  No one wants to test that
    	option, nowadays.
    
    -CAH-
    

    One major drawback to a male birth control drug is that it cannot
    instill a high degree of confidence in the (casual) female partner.
    A condom is very visible, but how many women are prepared to risk 
    nine months of pregnancy on her partner's word?  (This same question 
    could be asked by men who have doubts about their partner's "protection",
    but in the end, it is she, and not he, who has to carry the child.)
                       
    

    
    She would if it turns the mans fingernails blue...