Real couples give their verdict on male contraception; Louise

Gail Smith, 36, and Mark Smith, 42 Gail has two children with husband Mark. She thinks some men would welcome the reassurance that the male Pill would bring.

"From a male point of view, some men would like to take the Pill for their own safety because it would give them a guarantee, the way a woman feels safer when she's on the Pill. They'd know they weren't going to get a chap at the door nine months later!"

Her husband Mark doesn't think he would have any problem remembering to take the Pill. "I take a tablet every day of the summer for hayfever anyway so it would be second nature to me, just another tablet."

Gail knows that she could trust Mark to be on the Pill but says it is different for single women.

"I would trust Mark, as my husband," she says, "but if I was a single woman dating I think I'd find it very difficult to trust someone I didn't know well."

Both Mark and Gail agree that the issue is not about which partner has control over the ability to conceive. "Having children should be a joint decision, it shouldn't be in the hands of one partner or the other", says Gail.

Sperm preservation and eventual fertility treatment is something neither Mark nor, he argues, most men would ever consider.

"I'm not sure many men would consider freezing sperm or embryos and having a vasectomy. What if your relationship isn't as solid as you thought and you split up?

"Getting pregnant the natural way is best anyway!"

Laura Manning, 24, and Paul Brown, 22 This couple have been together for just over four years.

Paul admits he has never thought about the male Pill and probably never will now that he and Laura are living together and starting to think about their future as parents.

"If I was single man I might think about using the Pill, but not in my situation now, especially as we are getting to that 'baby age'."

Laura, however, points out that even for single men the Pill may not be the best idea. But it would have its advantages. "The Pill doesn't protect against diseases", she says, "so there'd always be that to worry about.

"It would be good from the point of view of equal opportunities, though, because it puts responsibility on the man as well as the woman."

Paul agrees that contraception should be a shared responsibility and is critical of men who shy away from it and leave it to their partner.

"I certainly wouldn't mind the responsibility of taking the Pill, and I think saying that it should be completely up to the woman is quite a stupid way of looking at it."

Given the research that still has to be done about the long-term effects of the male Pill, Paul and Laura are wary of the potential consequences.

"I wouldn't want it to mess around his hormones or even risk his fertility" explains Laura.

Both agree they would only resort to artificial fertilisation if they needed it, not through choice.

"If there was a problem then, yes, fertility treatment is a great thing and we'd use it if we had to. But I'd rather do it the natural way."

Anthony Bebro, 34, and Linda Allerdice, 35 Anthony has never considered the male Pill as an option either, and doesn't think it will ever be in common use.

"I've never really thought about the male Pill, and I'd need to find out more about it if I was going to use it.

"It sounds a bit odd to me, though. I think the situation is alright as it is. The idea of a man on the Pill is quite strange."

Anthony and his partner Linda have a three-year-old son, Daniel. Linda says Anthony's "from the old school. I think he sees contraception as the woman's responsibility.

"I don't think of it as a burden, though. It's just the way it is and, as the saying goes, why fix something that's not broken?

"I wouldn't trust Anthony to use the Pill anyway, not at all. He never completes courses of antibiotics or things like that, so I wouldn't rely on him."

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