Doctors' Notes: Male Contraception
What's Up Docs?
BBC
4.4 • 659 Ratings
🗓️ 2 June 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Chris and Xand van Tulleken take a deeper dive into male contraception with Professor Richard Anderson.
They explore why, despite decades of research, new male contraceptive options are still limited. From funding gaps to shifting attitudes, they unpack the social and scientific barriers that have shaped progress so far.
They also look at how people feel about the idea of male contraception, whether those attitudes are changing, and what it could mean for relationships if new options become available.
Along the way, they tackle common misconceptions and consider what the future of shared contraceptive responsibility might look like.
If you’d like to share your thoughts on this or any other topic covered on the podcast, you email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or Whatsapp on 08000 665 123.
Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken Guest: Professor Richard Anderson Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar Editor: Jo Rowntree Researcher: Grace Revill Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable Visual Producer: Leon Gower Digital Lead: Richard Berry Composer: Phoebe McFarlane Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby
At the BBC: Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:07.2 | Things just swirling around my head. |
| 0:09.6 | Am I really the product of this? |
| 0:12.1 | Astonishing secrets uncovered by at-home DNA tests. |
| 0:17.0 | Little did I know what more was to come. |
| 0:19.5 | I'm Jenny Clemen, and in the new series of The Gift, we'll hear more stories emerging |
| 0:25.2 | out of the ever-expanding global DNA database. |
| 0:28.8 | They did know that I was different. |
| 0:31.7 | You had kids together. |
| 0:33.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:33.5 | Then you met. |
| 0:34.3 | Then we met. |
| 0:35.2 | The Gift. |
| 0:36.1 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.5 | Hello and welcome to Doctor's Notes. I'm Dr. Zand. And I'm Dr. Chris. We've just had a conversation |
| 0:46.1 | with Professor Richard Anderson on the topic of male contraception. Exactly, Chris. And in the main |
| 0:52.1 | episode, we talked about the current options available for male contraception. |
| 0:55.8 | What's in development, how they work, and some of the challenges in developing an effective |
| 1:00.4 | male contraceptive. |
| 1:01.5 | And I think I had not understood how tantalizingly close we are. |
| 1:06.0 | We're so close. |
| 1:06.9 | And Richard was generous enough to stay on for doctor's notes. |
... |
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