LAUSR

The demand for availability of efficient and safe contraceptive methods is strengthened by the predictions made by the United Nations regarding the future growth of the human population. So far, the women are not only the main victims of the unsafe procedures related to terminating unwished pregnancies but do also carry the main responsibility for family planning. There is a significant desire among the men for sharing this responsibility and a substantial proportion of the females are willing to trust their male partners in regard to use of contraception. There is, therefore, a need of developing new reversible, safe, effective, acceptable, affordable and available methods of male contraception. Thus, hormonal manipulation resulting in suppression of sperm production, seems - so far - to be the most feasible approach to achieve the above-mentioned goal. Several strategies of such hormonal manipulation have been tested. Most of them are based on administration of more or less supra-physiological doses of exogeneous testosterone, alone or in combination with other means of endocrine suppression of gonadotropin secretion. Although, so far, the goal of hormonal male contraception fulfilling the above mentioning criteria, has not yet been achieved - continuing development of new molecules, gives a hope for the near future.