Male Contraception and Public Health Impact

Ayaan Hawkins Regis completed her MPH practicum at MCI in Summer 2025, focusing on regulatory pathways and advocacy. ​Ayaan’s background is rooted in advocacy, community health, sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive justice. During her undergraduate years, Ayaan worked with Planned Parenthood South Atlantic as an intern under their lead advocacy campaigns manager. This experience introduced Ayaan to the world of reproductive and sexual health advocacy and sparked a deeper passion for contraception equity and accessibility.

Through this experience, Ayaan recognized how the majority of the burden of contraception is
placed on women and people with uteruses. Achieving reproductive and bodily autonomy for
everyone is important, and should not be exclusive to a certain sex and gender. Men are an
important part of family planning, yet are often left out of the conversation and limited in the
contraception options available to them. There are many different contraceptive methods
available to women and people with uteruses. Men and those who produce sperm deserve to have
the same broad variety of contraceptive methods to choose from. Investing in male contraception
methods and further research moves us one step closer to gender equity and sharing the burden
of contraception. To achieve reproductive autonomy for all, we must raise awareness about the
significant public health impact of investing in male contraceptive research. 
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Ayaan Hawkins Regis is a second-year Master of Public Health student at the Gillings School of
Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in maternal,
child, and family health. Ayaan attended the University of South Carolina for her undergraduate
studies, where she earned a degree in Women’s and Gender Studies, with a minor in Health
Promotion, Education, and Behavior. ​