New Condom for Women Introduced Photo by Anne Marie CummingsMaureen Kelly of Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes shows the Reality Condom.
Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes is offering a new method of birth control for women. It’s called the Reality Female Condom, sometimes referred to as Female Condom 2 (or FC2), and was approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in October.
“The Female Health Company came up with the name, Reality Female Condom, because it addresses the reality that women need access to a contraceptive and sexually transmitted disease (STD) protection as well as men,” says Maureen Kelly, a vice president and spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood.
Women interested the Reality Female Condom know all too well that the reality about the male condom is — not all men want to wear them, which undoubtedly puts many women on pins and needles. Comments that women are tired of hearing from some men, such as, “Sex doesn’t feel as good with a condom,” “Putting it on interrupts everything,” or, “But I love you,” can be approached differently now that women have their own option in these or similar types of scenarios. More prevention choices equal a decline in unsafe sex and in newly STDs, according to Planned Parenthood.
The Female Health Company’s first design of the female condom, known as FC1 (approved by the FDA in 1993), along with the Reality Female Condom, are considered essential tools in the battle against HIV/AIDS and pregnancy. In 2008, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS estimated that 33.4 million people worldwide were infected with HIV/AIDS, and half of them were women. Over 340 million new cases of STDs are spread globally each year.
Since the use of condoms is commonly recommended to prevent the spread of HIV and STDs, the FC1 was distributed in 77 countries. Unfortunately, for several reasons it wasn’t all that popular. It made a kind of squeaky noise during sex that wasn’t considered sexy. It was made of a strong polyurethane sheath, not always comfortable once inserted. And it was expensive ($15 for three). A study done in 2002 by the Centers for Disease Control showed that only 2 percent of women in the U.S. had used the FC1.
Kelly, who has been with Planned Parenthood for 15 years, explains that this due in part because the U.S. is significantly slower in approving the use of newer contraceptives than in Western Europe. “In the United States there is more discomfort, shame and secrecy around sexuality and contraception than in Western Europe. That has a negative impact on the process of approving contraceptives for sale to women.”
But the Reality Female Condom is having remarkably different results. “Nitrile is a cheaper material which can be used with oilbased lubricants, is thin and conducts heat,” says Kelly, who teaches women that using it for the first time may take up to three tries before they are fully comfortable inserting and using it.
Similar to the male condom, the Reality Female Condom is a tube (6.5 inches in length) that's closed on one end and open on the other. It can be inserted up to 45 minutes before having sex. With a solid inner ring that rests around the cervix, it anchors itself behind the pubic bone. It’s also been touted to enhance sexual activity.
The new female condom is available at Planned Parenthood and is free to all women. For those who would prefer to purchase it online, it’s sold for $3.59 as a single pack or $21.13 as a 10-pack at amazon.com. At drugstore.com it’s sold for $17.99 as a five–pack, and at target.com for $16.19 as a five-pack.
Planned Parenthood strives to make choices, options and information the basis of their approach to promoting sexual health for women. “One of the ways we teach women how to make birth control choices,” Kelly says, “is the idea that each woman explores what her personality type is and makes a choice that fits her schedule and who she is as a person.”
So, for women uninterested in the female condom, there are new alternatives to that address the lifestyles of high school and college students, and the 21st century woman who is too busy to deal with contraception that requires regular maintenance. They’re called Long- Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs). According to Kelly, these methods have less than a 1 percent failure rate for typical users. Yet she does warn, “None of the LARCs prevent the transmission of STDs.”
“LARCs remove the daily and weekly responsibility of taking a pill or putting on a patch which can be difficult to remember,” says Kelly, who stresses that her agency has a staff that visits local colleges, high schools, churches and community groups to provide safer-sex information, which includes these new methods of birth control. “We are up at Cornell University and Ithaca College on a regular basis working with resident assistants regarding the education programs for their dorms and anyone who lives on campus.”
While some women may be interested in using the Reality Female Condom, many others are waiting for the day when another option becomes reality: the male birth control pill.
“We don’t have a male method approved in the U.S.,” says Kelly, “but they are being tested. The good news is that we have seen so many advances and new options in the last decade that promote sexual health, we will certainly see more in years to come, especially new methods that honor the variety of needs of smart, sexually active and responsible people.
