Male Birth Control Shot That Temporarily Lowers Sperm Count Actually Works

I forgot to take my pill again yesterday, and you know what I felt? Sheer panic.

Any sexually-active woman on birth control knows the feeling, especially if you're only sleeping with one person. You feel like you didn't just let yourself down. No, you let your TEAM down.

Now, all because you forgot to take your pill at 5:42pm exactly, you and your partner are more likely to have a child.

But, like, why does all this pressure have to be on us, ladies?!

WHY DOES THE WEIGHT OF TAKING BIRTH CONTROL HAVE TO LIE SOLELY ON MY DAINTY, LITTLE, FEMALE SHOULDERS?

(To clarify, that was a joke... I know not all female shoulders are dainty.)

Rest assured, scientists have heard our complaint. And they're doing their part to even out the contraceptive playing field for women AND men by developing a male birth control shot.

A new study in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism tested the injectable contraceptive on 320 healthy men with normal sperm counts who had been in monogamous relationships with women for at least a year.

The shot — which is taken on the regular — works by injecting a combination of hormones into a dude's bod that will suppress his sperm count so that there's no baby-making swimmers in his ejaculate.

The male birth control shot was effective in — wait for it — 96 percent of men. Yep, out of all the couples participating in the study, only four got pregnant.

The male birth control shots was found to be effective in — wait for it — 96 percent of men.

Now, don't go pushing your boyfriend to get one of these shots quite yet, though, before you consider the not-so-fun side effects.

The researchers had to stop enrolling new participants in 2011 because so many men were complaining of mood disorders, like depression. Injection-site pain, muscle pain, acne and even increased libido were also factors, which made 20 guys drop out.

But even with the shitty side effects, more than 75 percent of participants reported they'd be down to use this shot even after the trial ended.

Sadly, it's not quite available yet.

"Although the injections were effective in reducing the rate of pregnancy, the combination of hormones needs to be studied more to consider a good balance between efficacy and safety," study author Mario Philip Reyes Festin, MD, of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland explained to ScienceDaily.

In other words, they gotta work out the kinks (read: side effects) before this thing can hit the market — and your man's sperm count.

Rest assured, ladies. They're WORKIN' ON IT. And birth control equality is in our near future!

Citations: Male birth control shots prevent pregnancy (ScienceDaily)