{"id":506717,"date":"2026-02-27T03:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/506717\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T03:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:38:14","slug":"testosterone-saved-claires-sex-life-but-australian-women-still-pay-more-for-it-than-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/506717\/","title":{"rendered":"Testosterone saved Claire\u2019s sex life, but Australian women still pay more for it than men"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wendy<\/p>\n

February 27, 2026 \u2014 11:18am<\/p>\n

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There was no issue with the sex life in Claire Atkins\u2019 long marriage until a few years after she went into early menopause, aged 46.<\/p>\n

\u201cSex up until then had been great,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was happening all the time, our boys had grown up and left home, and we were having lots of noisy sex again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ClaireClaire Atkins says being prescribed testosterone for low libido after menopause has restored the fulfilling sex life in her marriage.Natalie Grono<\/p>\n

But by the age of 51, her libido had sunk low enough to be distressing. \u201cThe bottom dropped out of it,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t even think about sex any more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, is this what I\u2019ve got to look forward to?\u201d<\/p>\n

Atkins had other issues her GP said were likely linked with menopause: joint pain which stopped her long-distance running, insomnia and low motivation to do things that usually gave her joy.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Professor<\/a><\/p>\n

A few months after Atkins started menopause hormone therapy, her GP suggested that because her lost sex drive was also troubling her, she would be a candidate for the only testosterone treatment approved for women, AndroFeme 1.<\/p>\n

The Australian product is available on private script, only to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder<\/a> \u2013 HSDD \u2013 in post-menopausal women. It costs $107 to $140 a tube, which lasts three to four months.<\/p>\n

Patient advocates are angry that it was rejected late last year for subsidy by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee because many women cannot afford it, and women\u2019s health specialists say the decision is sexist given the government supports men with eight similar products.<\/p>\n

The manufacturer, the small Perth pharmaceuticals company Lawley, has announced it will challenge the decision in the Federal Court based, in part, on its argument that women have inequitable access to a medication for sexual dysfunction compared with men.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Yola<\/a><\/p>\n

World-leading Australian research<\/a> suggests about 60 per cent of menopausal women with HSDD are helped by testosterone, usually moderately, and those who respond well may see a big improvement \u2013 as Atkins did.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just about wanting to have sex all the time, it was making me feel juicy about life and about myself [even though] I was no sexier than I was a couple of weeks before,\u201d Atkins said. She said she feels fortunate to afford it but wonders why women pay so much more.<\/p>\n

Michael Buckley, a pharmacist and founder and chief executive of Lawley, said the committee\u2019s decision was an \u201castounding rejection of the physical, mental and sexual needs of post-menopausal women\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means women will pay between 14 to 16 times more for treatment than their male counterparts pay for the treatment of similar sexual dysfunction conditions,\u201d Buckley said.<\/p>\n

AndroFeme 1 was registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for HSDD in November 2020, and is approved in the UK, New Zealand and South Africa. If it was funded in Australia, the government would pay $1.07 a day for women on the product \u2013 compared with $2.60 a day for men on Testogel.<\/p>\n

\"AtkinsAtkins says she can\u2019t understand why women have to pay significantly more, on private script, for a hormone available to men on the PBS.Natalie Grono<\/p>\n

A Health Department spokesman said the committee \u201cacknowledged the impact of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Dysfunction on postmenopausal women\u201d but had concerns regarding the strength of clinical evidence<\/a>, potential safety risks if misused and whether the proposed price offered value for money.<\/p>\n

A large Australian study published in The Lancet<\/a> last year by Professor Susan Davis, a Monash University menopause researcher and clinician, found that almost half of Australian women experience poor sexual wellbeing<\/a> in midlife. But Davis found sexual dysfunction causing distress in many women\u2019s 40s did not correspond with a decline in blood levels of testosterone.<\/p>\n

Intense public demand for women\u2019s testosterone, fuelled by non-evidence based claims about it being a \u201cmissing link hormone\u201d that can do wonders generally for midlife women, may have slowed the progress of AndroFeme 1, expert observers say.<\/p>\n

Doctors who are social media influencers have promoted women\u2019s testosterone as being able to treat or prevent many age-related conditions.<\/p>\n

\"SusanSusan Davis, a professor in women\u2019s health, found 60 per cent of post-menopausal women with HSDD benefit from using testosterone.Penny Stephens<\/p>\n

But global expert researchers, including Davis, have stressed that there is no evidence<\/a> for any therapeutic benefit other than for post-menopausal women with HSDD. She is studying if it has potential to impact leading morbidities in older women including heart failure, loss of muscle mass and function, and cognitive decline.<\/p>\n

Dr John Eden, director of the Sydney Menopause Centre at the Royal Hospital for Women and an associate professor of reproductive endocrinology at UNSW, said some claims escalating demand were wrong. \u201cWhere some of these YouTube celebrities have gone too far is they\u2019re saying every woman needs estrogen, progesterone and testosterone and that is just not true,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It was useful for many women with HSDD, he said, and \u201cfor a significant minority it\u2019s a game-changer; when it works it\u2019s dramatic\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is plenty of published data to show if you have someone who loves their partner and is not depressed, and their menopause symptoms are controlled well, and they\u2019re not having a lot of hot flushes \u2026 and you give them an appropriate dose of testosterone, over four to five months you get an improvement in sexual function,\u201d Eden said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Testosterone is not a panacea and not something all women need, Eden said, but rejecting a female product from the PBS \u201clooks sexist, it looks terrible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Professor Rod Baber, head of the Menopause and Menstrual disorders clinic at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney and a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Sydney, said he had prescribed AndroFeme 1 for HSDD since it was registered by the TGA in 2020, and it had helped patients who responded well.<\/p>\n

Baber was a lead author on a 2019 global consensus position statement<\/a> by international menopause experts on the use of testosterone for women, which declared treatment to have a \u201cmoderate\u201d therapeutic effect, but only for HSDD.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Female<\/a><\/p>\n

The evidence-based statement had \u201cbeen accepted by most appropriate colleges or societies interested in this area of women\u2019s health\u201d in the world. \u201cIn my experience, and the literature reflects this, two out of three women get a clinical response,\u201d Baber said.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s testosterone was a useful tool for HSDD, he said, though data suggested it still produced only \u201can average of one satisfying sexual event per month\u201d, and side effects could include acne and increased facial or body hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outburst of over-enthusiastic [off label] testosterone treatments which lack any evidence and efficacy, all the fuss and bother on the social media scene may have given the committee cause for concern,\u201d Baber said.<\/p>\n

Davis has also conducted world-leading research which found that 60 per cent of post-menopausal women with HSDD who are in good relationships and have no other significant health issues benefit from using testosterone.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Women<\/a><\/p>\n

Twenty per cent experience no change in desire or responsiveness, and symptoms worsened for 20 per cent. Davis has said that \u201cwomen who it\u2019s really working for\u201d could experience four more satisfying sexual events per month.<\/p>\n

Eden said his clinical practice supported the product\u2019s effectiveness. \u201cWe know that for a substantial number of women with low sexual desire who are menopausal, an appropriate female dose works and is safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about that statement, but that seems to be the statement the PBAC is arguing against.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Health Department spokesman said more information about the committee\u2019s consideration would be available in a public summary document for AndroFeme 1 in March.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"WendyWendy Tuohy<\/a> is a senior writer focusing on social issues and those impacting women and girls.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 27, 2026 \u2014 11:18am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-506717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}