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| UK version of The Big Bang |
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A shortened version of this article appeared in New York Magazine Spongeworthy Is the Today Sponge tomorrow's birth control? Remember that 1995 Seinfeld episode in which Elaine frantically stockpiles Today Sponges right before they're about to go off the market? Well, more than a decade later, the sponge is finally back! And this time around, there are a few more reasons to care. Watching that show as two young women fresh out of college who planned on having sex with various young men but were terrified of STDs, we couldn't understand why a single woman in this city wouldn't be using condoms. But now that we're both in committed relationships, we can definitely see the sponge's appeal: Recent studies have shown that the birth control pill can sap some women's libido long-term and that the patch may cause life-threatening blood clots. Besides, using condoms as thirtysomethings in LTRs (long-term-relationships) just seems a bit anachronistic. Production of the over-the-counter polyurethane spermicidal sponge halted over ten years ago due to a plantwide problem where they were madeÑnot, as many people assumed, because of something wrong with the sponge itself. Allendale Pharmaceuticals bought marketing and manufacturing rights back in 1998. Much has been made over the past few years of the sponge's imminent-yet-hard-to-pin-down return, but its actual reintroduction to the U.S. has been quietly trickling in over the past seven months to retail and online stores, first at Walgreen's and Drugstore.com, then more recently at CVS, Rite-Aid, and Amazon.com. There's even a Canadian Website selling it called Sponge-Worthy.com (what Elaine's boyfriends had to be in order to earn use of one from her dwindling supply). During this transition, it hasn't always been easy to find. "At times I've actually felt like a teenager again, running around a drugstore trying to figure out where to find the birth control, not wanting to ask anyone for help," says Manhattanite Roberta. "I'm a 31-year-old editor for a women's magazine and I can discuss sex all day long, but I can't find the Today Sponge? Wonderful." "Before it was available here in the U.S. again, I used to pay insane amounts of money to get it shipped from Canada," says Lulu, a 21-year-old Hudson Valley college student. "And even then it was worth it!" Now that the sponge is finally readily available here, Allendale — which has only six people on staff — might consider hiring Lulu to get the word out. "I passionately love the sponge!" she raves. "It's safe, economical [about $2.50 a pop], reliable, easy to use, and allows for spontaneity." The sponge can be worn for up to 30 hours, and the wearer can have intercourse as many times as she likes during the first 24 hours, without any reapplication of spermicide (unlike a diaphragm). While Lulu's just a spring chicken, most of the Today Sponge users in New York that we spoke with were women with a bit more experience under their belts. Call it a mid-sex-life birth-control crisis. "Our target market is women 30 or older in monogamous relationships," says Gene Detroyer, president and CEO of Allendale. "When we conducted research to determine who our ideal audience was, we found that 77 percent of women 35 and older do not want to use hormonal contraception." And that's the major concern for most sponge-users we talked with: "I used to be on the Pill. I hated what it did to my body: It wrecked my skin, made me feel bloated, and changed the texture of my hair," says MG, an "old-school" user of the sponge who's thrilled about its comeback. "After I went off the Pill, it took me almost a year to feel 'right' again. For me, it wasn't worth it." And Beth, a new mother who was on the Pill pre-pregnancy but who's been using the sponge while breast-feeding, says, "Now that I have been off the hormones for almost two years, I'm not sure I ever want to go back to putting those chemicals in my body again, especially with all of the risks and side effects associated with the Pill, patch, etc." She adds, "I have another friend who is excited it's back on the market because she's a smoker and really shouldn't be using the Pill." Loyal Pill-poppers aren't completely convinced, though. "The long-term loss of libido does concern me slightly, but I think 4 a.m. feedings and single motherhood would have a bigger impact on my sex life," says Becca, a student from Long Island. "Plus, I'm sure by tomorrow there'll be a study out saying tomatoes cure the clap or condoms lower heart disease if taken orally." The magazine editor, Roberta, who's actually quite happy with her Yasmin brand Pill, mentions another study that found the Pill may prevent ovarian cancers. "In my mind, that benefit far outweighs the possible drawback of a slightly lowered sex drive." Other women worry more about feeling "chemically treated" by the spermicide in the sponge, Nonoxynol-9. Studies have shown N-9 to cause small microscopic tears to internal linings, which may actually promote the transmission of STDs like HIV. Conscientious sex stores like Babeland here in the city won't even carry condoms or lube made with the stuff. "I used the Today Sponge a couple of times in the eighties, when I was 18, with my first sexual partner, maybe a month or two into our having sex," says Kay, now 37 and working in the city as a graphic designer. "When I went to my gyno at the time, she said I had an infection and that it was most likely from the sponge." The safety pamphlet included with the sponge does warn that about 3 to 6 percent of people will find Nonoxynol-9 irritating. "However," explains Robert J. Staab, Ph.D., chairman and chief scientific officer of Allendale, "if you have a preexisting, low-grade irritation [meaning you have not noticed any obvious symptoms], any intravaginal product like a diaphragm or Today Sponge may make the symptoms more noticeable. Women who use vaginal products (diaphragms, condoms, tampons, lubricants, sponges, etc.) will occasionally complain of yeast infections, UTI, or simple irritation, but at about the same rate as people who do not use vaginal products." The only other major concern women mention is efficacy: Clinical studies have shown the Today Sponge to be about 91 percent effective when used correctly by women who've never had children. Compared with the perfect-use efficacy rates of the Pill (99.7 percent) and condoms (98 percent), 91 percent sounds kind of measly. Detroyer and Staab at Today take issue with that rate of condom efficacy (which we quoted from Planned Parenthood), saying, "No way are condoms that effective," then quickly point out that 91 percent efficacy for the sponge translates into one instance of pregnancy for every 1,200 to 1,500 acts of intercourseÑwhich definitely does have a better ring to it. And most sponge-users we spoke with seemed confident in their choice of birth control, a few of them using condoms as a backup method just during ovulation, for peace of mind. "I've had friends that have gotten pregnant using condoms and the Pill," says new mom Beth, "so I really don't see any form of birth control as completely foolproof." One woman we spoke with, a 38-year-old consultant from New Jersey who's been married for five and a half years, seemed like the quintessential sponge user — that is, until she mentioned her husband's vasectomy. "Well, we decided to have a threesome with a very close male friend whom we both trust, so I bought some sponges for that fun occasion!" That story alone was almost enough to make converts of us ("We'll have what she's having!"). But Em, who's never been very "hands-on" down there, thinks she'll stick with her Pill for now — besides, she likes what it does for her skin. Lo, on the other hand, who's crazy enough without the added hormones, may just become an Elaine disciple. But we're both still keeping our fingers crossed for the male birth control pill. A shortened version of this article appeared in New York Magazine |
©2007 Emma Taylor & Lorelei Sharkey