Is a male contraceptive pill closer than you think?

What's Up Docs?

BBC

Health & Fitness, Nature, Science

4.4 • 659 Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.

In this episode, they turn their attention to male contraception. We’ve been hearing about a “male pill” for decades, so why don’t we have one yet? They break down how male fertility works, what options currently exist, and the different approaches scientists are exploring, from hormonal gels to non-hormonal treatments.

They also look at the challenges behind developing new contraceptives, from the biology to the strict safety standards and lack of funding that have slowed progress.

To help them unpack it all, they’re joined by Professor Richard Anderson, Professor of Clinical Reproductive Science at the University of Edinburgh. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us 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,
0:23.6	we'll hear more stories emerging out of the ever-expanding global DNA database. They did know
0:30.0	that I was different. You had kids together. Yeah. Then you met. Then we met. The Gift. Listen on BBC
0:37.1	Sounds.
0:39.9	Hello, welcome to What's Up Docs. I'm Dr. Chris. I'm Dr. Zand. And in this podcast, we stand by the washing machine that is the world of health and well-being ready to sort out the delicates from the denim. Or the facts from the fiction. Yes, and not put all the facts
0:55.2	in the dryer. Not put a pink sock of fiction in with the white sheets of truth. Exactly.
1:01.5	Something like that. With the help of our expert guests each episode, we hope to get crisp,
1:05.5	clear information about how to best look after our minds and bodies.
1:16.9	So today, Chris, we're looking at a topic that the majority of our listeners will be aware of, I think, but it is an up-and-coming area of study within medicine, and it's been up and
1:22.3	coming for a while.
1:23.5	That's right, Zandi.
1:24.3	It has been up and coming for more than six decades, in fact. We are looking at
1:28.4	male contraception and contraceptives. What are they? What options are available and why is there no
1:34.6	male pill? Chris, before we get into that main topic for today, can we just take a moment to
1:41.5	check in with each other? What have you got for me? What have you been up to? How are things going? My wife, Diner, has left me for 48 hours. Okay.
1:49.9	She has gone to Spain on a work trip. I've been left at home with the three girls. So do you
1:55.7	want to know the thing that has gone down best with the girls? Okay. I made what I call girls soup, where all three girls get in the bathtub together, but they're allowed to have a bath in their clothes. Whoa. That was the hit. They were so excited to be like, in the bath, in their clothes. Oh, I think I'd be amazed to have a bath in my clothes. Because you don't let kids get their clothes wet. No, if there's a hose, you're like, don't get me wet with a hose. Don't get yourself wet. So to be like in the bath with the shower on. I love that. So why are you telling me this, Chris, is the wellness point here that if you want to be the favorite parent, you've got to let your kids break the rules. You've got to do something naughty.
	...

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