One aspect of the invention provides a method of contraception by administering to a female subject a composition comprising Mullerian inhibiting substance (MIS). The MIS can be produced endogenously in the subject by a vector, where the vector comprises a polynucletide encoding a recombinant MIS protein. In some embodiments, the contraception is permanent and only requires administration of the composition once. Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of preserving an ovarian reserve, the method comprising administering to a female subject a composition comprising MIS or an inducible vector that comprises a polynucleotide encoding a recombinant MIS protein.
