Among those who work in contraception, it’s a well-worn joke: a male pill has been just five years away from hitting store shelves… for the last 40 years. But for a long time, male hormonal contraception has been a niche subject. Contraception, it’s generally accepted, is women’s work. It takes two to make a baby, so why are women still overwhelmingly responsible for birth control – for the admin, side effects, stress and, when it goes wrong, the very grim consequences? So we set out to solve the mystery of the missing male contraceptive pill.