When John Amory, associate professor of medicine, mentions his research at cocktail parties, it always sparks a few laughs.

For the past 12 years at the UW, Amory has been working on developing a male contraceptive, and a new clinical study is recruiting male subjects to test a hormonal gel.

“People ask, ‘Would men remember to take a pill every day?’ Well,” Amory said, “some will.”

Doctors have been exploring the possibility of such a drug since the female pill was introduced in the 1960s. Still, the only viable modes of birth control for men are condoms and vasectomies.

“We’re using combinations of hormones very similar to the kind of approach that’s used for female contraceptive pill,” said Alvin Matsumoto, a professor in the Department of Medicine.

So far, injections, implants, gels and pills have been tested, Matsumoto said. The UW’s Center for Research in Reproduction and Contraception is one of two groups actively involved in male-contraceptive research ­— the other is at UCLA.

Amory’s team is researching both hormonal and non-hormonal methods of contraception. But the sheer number of sperm generated compared to eggs proves a tough target: Women release one egg per month, while men produce 1,000 sperm every second.

“Most of the work is focused on giving hormones to men to suppress sperm production,” Amory said. “What the research has shown us … is that’s hard to do.”

In one recent trial, testosterone and progesterone administered to 1,000 Chinese men suppressed sperm production in two-thirds of subjects. The remaining one-third could not suppress sperm production all the way to zero — and that’s the reason there isn’t anything on the market, Amory explained.

The new study involves daily application of a testosterone gel on the shoulder area or along the sides of the belly for six months, said Brad Anawalt, vice chair of the Department of Medicine. Subjects would be prompted for an exam and sperm specimen once a month. The goal is that in three months, they would have suppressed sperm production.

The hormonal form is not without its drawbacks, however.

“It wouldn’t work right away,” Amory said. “You would have to be on it for two to three months before it’s safe to rely on as contraception.”

Amory is also testing a nonhormonal contraceptive by performing preclinical work in a rabbit model. Ideally, Amory said, a man’s sex drive, muscle mass and general well-being would be unaffected by this method.

Though other doctors have posed concerns linking a hormonal pill to infertility, Amory denied the condition as a side effect.

“Obviously, we don’t want that to happen,” he said. “There’s no reason why people shouldn’t recover. The reproductive system is pretty resilient; it’s hard to keep it suppressed indefinitely.”

It may still be a while, though, before men are popping pills alongside their partners.

“The joke in the field is people would be saying we’ll have a male contraceptive in five to 10 years for the last 30 years,” Amory said. “I’m hopeful. I’m very excited in particular about the nonhormonal approaches — I think there’s a lot of promise there.”

Reach Lifestyles Editor Rachel Solomon at news@dailyuw.com.