According to the Daily Express reports, researchers at Beijing's National Research for Family Planning have conducted the largest-ever study with regard to the feasibility of a new male contraceptive which supposedly is as "effective" in keeping pregnancy at bay as the female pill.

For the study, the researchers observed 1,045 healthy, fertile Chinese men - in the age-group 20-45 years, and having fathered at least one child - who were administered monthly testosterone-based shots for a period of two-and-a-half years, and found that only 1 percent of the wives of these men became pregnant during the mentioned period. The wives were healthy, aged between 18 and 38 years, and had no reproductive problems.

The findings of the study are noteworthy keeping in mind the fact that no contraception is 100 percent effective - there is a 1 to 2 percent chance of pregnancy even in women who are on the Pill.

The injections that these men were given - comprising 500mg of testosterone undecanoate in tea seed oil - disrupted sperm production by bringing about a drop in two regulatory brain chemicals, namely follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone.

The study claims that none of the men on the contraceptive jab reported any unusual side-effects, and added that the process is "reversible." The sperm count comes back to the healthy levels six months after coming off the injections!