Why female condoms are so hard to find

Amazon has hundreds of types of male condoms available, in all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors. You can walk into pretty much any gas station, supermarket, or pharmacy and easily buy a male condom.

How many types of female condoms are available in the US? Just one. And you need a prescription to get it.

The first prototype for the modern female condom was created by a Danish doctor named Lasse Hessel. It was brought to the United States in the ’90s and didn’t sell very well. Women complained that it made noise, and without proper use, it would fall out during sex.

The company that manufactured them came out with a second, improved version but didn’t market it very well, and as a result, only about 8 percent of US women reportedly used one.

All of this despite the fact that female condoms are the only woman-initiated method of preventing both unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and they’re about as effective as male condoms.

Additionally, in 2017, the company that makes the only female condom approved by the US Food and Drug Administration switched to a prescription-based model, so if you want to get one, you need to go see your doctor or buy it directly from their website.

Watch the video above to see why it’s so hard to find a female condom.

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