"I was so excited when the female condom came out. I thought, 'This is going to be the answer to a whole lot of things'."

Dr Melissa Kang, who you might know better as Dolly Doctor, the woman who for 20 years answered sex ed questions from young Australians in a teen magazine, says the female condom was a potential game changer as it gave women the opportunity to protect themselves from both sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy.

"It's a really effective barrier method so it prevents STIs and HIV in the same way that a male condom does, and, you know, something the woman can have control of."

But despite her enthusiasm for the female condom, Dr Kang says she can't remember the last time she was asked about it.

"I have never been asked about the female condom... ever maybe. Or very rarely."

The truth is, no-one really knows how many women actually use the female condom.

In fact Family Planning NSW has just launched a survey of 500 women to find out about their experiences of the product.

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But even if you wanted to use the female condom, it's likely you'd have a hard time finding one.

After calls to eight pharmacies, two sex stores and a family planning clinic, we were only able to find two in Sydney — one at a family planning clinic and another at a sex store.

(One pharmacist even hung up thinking our call was a joke.)

So why did we never take to the female condom?

Sex ed in school was pretty basic once upon a time. What didn't you learn about sex (or still confuses you) that you're dying to know? Send us your questions for Dr Melissa Kang (who used to answer questions as Dolly Doctor) at life@abc.net.au.

What is the female condom and does it work?

Like the much more commonly used male condom, the female condom physically prevents the exchange of bodily fluids (semen and vaginal fluids).

This means sperm cannot enter through the cervix to fertilise an ovum.

The female condom has a ring at each end, one that sits up against the cervix, and another that sits against the labia. ( ABC Life: Luke Tribe )

It's a clear rubber sheath that is about 15 centimetres long with rings at both the top and bottom.

One ring sits outside the vagina and covers the vulva. This ring anchors the condom and prevents it from being fully pushed inside the vagina during sex.

The other ring is inserted inside the vagina up towards the cervix.

"Because the material of the female condom covers some of the labia as well, it's going to be a little bit more effective at preventing some of those skin-based infections like the herpes virus and the wart virus," Dr Kang says.

That means that unlike other forms of female contraception, such as the pill, the female condom offers some physical protection against STIs.

When it comes to preventing pregnancy, it's 79 per cent effective with typical use (which, unlike 'perfect use', assumes people make mistakes when using contraception).

What that means is if 100 women were to use it over the course of a year, 21 of them would fall pregnant with typical use. (That makes it 3 per cent less effective than the male condom.)

Perfect use, on the other hand, is a way to measure the effectiveness of a contraceptive if it were used according to the instructions without fail, under perfect conditions.

With perfect use the female condom is up to 95 per cent effective.

By contrast, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), like IUDs, can be up to 99.95 per cent effective with typical use. (But they don't protect against STIs.)

There is some concern that the female condom might increase your risk of microtrauma if the outer ring rubs against the sensitive skin of the vulva during sex, which in theory could increase the risk of skin-to-skin infection, says Family Planning Victoria medical director Kathy McNamee.

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Why haven't I heard of the female condom?

The female condom first went to market in the 1990s in a time of heightened awareness around HIV and AIDS.

It gave women an option they could control themselves, that could prevent both pregnancy and STIs. But despite its obvious benefits, it didn't really take off.

Dr McNamee says cost, availability and lack of familiarity were all barriers for women when the female condom was released in the '90s.

Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) program manager Jessica Michaels says there was an appetite for the female condom when it was first released, but that has since dwindled.

"It was viewed as a means to empower women to take greater control of their sexual health," Ms Michaels says.

"Many women are not aware of their existence, they are not widely available, and few healthcare providers suggest them as a means of protection."

She adds many women find the female condom "challenging and unpleasant" to use.

"Making the female condom more accessible and cheaper may help to improve usage however many women will still find the female condom to be challenging and unpleasant to use," Ms Michaels says

A box of three female condoms could be purchased from an adult store for $30. ( ABC Life: Edwina Storie )

It wasn't just in Australia that the female condom struggled. The Guardian investigated why the female condom didn't take off.

"Newspaper headlines such as 'Is that an amoeba between your legs?' weren't helpful," writes The Guardian's Kate Burt.

"And let's not forget the infamous 'rustle', the noise that the [female condom] made during sex."

Not Just The Pill The female condom is just one of the less popular forms of contraceptives that have actually been around for a while. The pill has served women around the world for more than half a century, but with evidence suggesting Australian women are looking to other options, we decided it was worth taking a closer look at things like the female condom. ABC Life's series Not Just The Pill looks at different methods of contraceptive — like the female condom — how they work, how effective they are and why they haven't become as popular as the pill.

The "infamous rustle" was due to the material of the original version — polyurethane.

Two decades later the female condom has been redesigned. It's now made of out of a new material — nitrile — to address those rustling issues.

"There was also a lot of talk about the rustling sound … but the versions now are soft and very well lubricated, so it's hard to imagine there would be a rustling sound with them," Dr McNamee says.

Late last year, the re-designed female condom — the FC2 — was reclassified in the US by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), which should see it become more accessible.

If more people in the US were to use the female condom that could lead to more discussion about the female condom and growth in awareness around the world.

The benefits

Dr Melissa Kang was excited when the female condom first launched in the 1990s. ( ABC Life: Edwina Storie )

"A woman might choose the female condom for a number of reasons," Dr Kang says.

"Perhaps she can't have a hormonal type of method."

Have a question about sex for Dr Melissa Kang? Send it our way life@abc.net.au.

Even though hormonal contraceptives are some of the most common types of female birth control, they're not available to all women for health reasons.

There are also other benefits.

Because a woman can insert the female condom hours before she has sex, it increases the chances she will use barrier protection, Dr McNamee says.

"If she's going out it's in there and ready to go. We know if you've had a few drinks there is evidence that reduces your chance of using barrier protection."

Unlike with the male condom the man doesn't need a full erection for the female condom to be effective.

"And the penis can actually stay in the vagina after ejaculation whereas you can't with a male condom," Dr McNamee says.

Because the female condom isn't all that popular at the moment, it was a bit of a struggle finding people to interview who had first-hand insight into what it's actually like to use.

One woman, who regularly uses female condoms in her profession as a sex worker, said the female condom has a lot of advantages over the male condom.

For example, because they are made of nitrile, they heat up to body temperature faster than condoms.

They also have a lot of other advantages when it comes to… size.

If a male partner has difficulties with condom sizing, is affected by erectile dysfunction, or has a disability that makes it challenging to put a condom on, the female condom can resolve all of those issues.

They can also offer women more protection during sex with multiple partners.

"People think in orgies that if the males are wearing condoms then everyone's protected, that's incorrect," the woman says.

"If a man swaps penetration from one woman to another, he could be transferring STIs between them. If she's wearing a female condom that is prevented," she says.

The drawbacks

Women have been deterred by the lack of familiarity around the female condom. ( Unsplash )

While a pack of 12 male condoms is between $7 to $12 at a chemist, the cost of female condoms — closer to $30 for a pack of three — remains a significant barrier to their use.

Not to mention the fact that it seems near impossible to purchase them from a chemist.

"As a long-term option it's expensive and it has a higher failure rate than condoms," Dr McNamee says.

It also has had lower perfect-use rates because of heavy lubrication.

"It was so well lubricated that the penis slid under the condom. You had to guide the penis into the condom," Dr McNamee says.

Plans to help improve awareness of the female condom

Family Planning NSW wants to know why women haven't taken to the female condom.

To know why, they're seeking 500 women to road test the latest version of the female condom and provide anonymous feedback.

Family Planning NSW medical director Dr Deborah Bateson explains the aim of the survey is to record Australian women's experiences with the female condom and find out what's working and what isn't.

"We have plenty of information on female condoms from developing world settings — they're used a lot in African countries, for instance — but no research has been done in Australia," she says.

Ms Michaels from the ASHM backs this up.

"Research around the acceptability and use of the female condom has predominantly been focused in Africa," she says.

While Family Planning will provide three for free via the survey, Dr Bateson says if demand increases the price could potentially come down.

Clive Woodworth, who runs a sexual health company, believes the reason they're not stocked in pharmacies is that they're often run by men.

"And men don't see the value of them … You run up against misogyny quite a lot in the industry," he says.

Ultimately, despite being currently fairly unpopular, availability and understanding of the female condom is important because it provides women more options and power of choice.

"When it comes to contraception it's all about choices," Dr Bateson says.

"We want as many choices as possible for women to find the right [contraception] for them."