Scarleteen

"sperm needs the property of semen in order to move"

- I was wondering if 'vaginal fluid' can REPLACE 'semen' as a transport for sperm? In other words, can sperm still move if there is no 'semen' present but there is 'vaginal fluid' present?


I'm quite aware that the scenario I mentioned above is quite unrealistic. I asked this question cause I read that sperm can move in moist environment.

- Or is 'semen' the only qualified transport for sperm?

Thanks in advance.

Sperm cells aren't going to exist outside of lab conditions without semen, so this question doesn't really have a basis in practical reality.

Sperm cells are ejaculated WITH semen, and that fluid is important to *protect* them from the acidity of vaginal fluids, to facilitate their motility and some other things. So nope, semen and vaginal fluids are super-different and not at all interchangeable.

Dear Heather,

Thank you for your response.
I have an additional question which is quite related to what I asked before.

So I saw this statement on one of scarleteen's blog. http://www.scarleteen.com/blog/clairep/ ... g_freakout

"They [sperm] need the properties of semen in order to move. Another way of looking at it is that if the semen makes any stops between a penis and vagina, such as on your hands or a piece of clothing, the sperm can’t then move from there to the vagina, even if the area where they landed touches the vulva (outside of the vagina) or inside the vagina itself.”

I don't quite understand this statement (maybe because I have poor English).

As on why sperm can't move to the vagina if they make any stops between penis and vagina:

For 'piece of clothing' part, is it because
- semen (liquid) can't go through clothes, therefore, although sperm (micro) can go through clothes, it can't move because it needs the property of semen?
- actually, does it even make sense that I look at sperm and semen as two different things (well I mean they are but they come as one packet). Like stating that sperm can go through clothes but not semen (as you mentioned earlier that sperm are ejaculated WITH semen)

For the 'hand' part:
- From the quote above, does it mean that if a person takes a freshly ejaculated semen (+sperm) with his/her hand (now the sperm has made 'stop' between penis and vagina) and put it INSIDE a vagina, it won't cause any risk? (sperm unable to move?)
- If the answer to the above is yes (no risk, sperm not able to move), how so? because this time, they are in one packet (semen + sperm).

I'm really sorry if my questions are confusing.

Could you please kindly elaborate on this topic and educate me?

Thank you very much Heather.
I really appreciate it.

Hi john,

I think one factor here is that semen (or semen+sperm if you will) isn't just a liquid... like lots of organic things, it's a bunch of solids and liquids suspended together. Sperm cells individually are delicate, mechanically and chemically... if they break they won't work.

Just because a liquid-y substance can be forced through a fabric, doesn't mean it will operate anymore. Just how if you throw a tv out the top floor window, it can reach the floor, but it's not going to work afterward.

Finally, hypotheticals aren't really helpful for anyone here. We deal with what *is* happening to people who come here. We don't usually talk about deliberately putting a hand full of sperm directly into the vagina, because that isn't something that people tend to do. I don't ever remember anyone coming here and describing that.

Dear Jacob,

Thank for your response.

"I think one factor here is that semen (or semen+sperm if you will) isn't just a liquid... like lots of organic things, it's a bunch of solids and liquids suspended together. Sperm cells individually are delicate, mechanically and chemically... if they break they won't work. "

- Thanks for this. I now have a better understanding.

"Just because a liquid-y substance can be forced through a fabric, doesn't mean it will operate anymore. Just how if you throw a tv out the top floor window, it can reach the floor, but it's not going to work afterward"

- Thanks for this. However, I do have some question in mind. Please correct me if I'm wrong but it is a known fact that sperm does NOT die INSTANTLY when exposed to air/outside the body, it could survive for several minutes. So, I was wondering why this "rule" does not apply in the case above where the sperm makes stop to fabric? The blog I mentioned eatlier did not include any "duration" when stating that sperm will NOT survive when it makes stops between penis and vagina (I assume you agree with this statement), so I can only assume it dies INSTANTLY. I really do hope my question make sense to you. May you please kindly provide a more detailed explanation for this?

"Finally, hypotheticals aren't really helpful for anyone here. We deal with what *is* happening to people who come here. We don't usually talk about deliberately putting a hand full of sperm directly into the vagina, because that isn't something that people tend to do. I don't ever remember anyone coming here and describing that."

- I apologize. I didn't mean to make it hypothetical. What I imagined earlier was some scenario when a female fingers herself with fresh semen on her finger (right after giving a handjob). I think this question will probably be answered with the question I asked above.

Thanks in advance Jacob.

Ideas about sperm cells "dying" or not dying when "exposed to air" are flawed in a whole bunch of ways, including that the body is full of oxygen! In other words, sperm cells, like all the other cells of our bodies, are always exposed to air.

The way reproduction works really isn't about sperm cells infecting or having singular contact with something, like how someone gets a cold virus. In other words, reproduction isn't about a one-time exposure to sperm, it's about a bunch of things -- different hormones over weeks, the uterus and its lining, the cervix, the fluids of the cervix and vagina, the vagina, semen and sperm cells -- all doing very specific things at only very specific times for reproduction to happen. It being so specific is a big reason why couples TRYING to conceive often don't have an easy time of it if they just randomly have a bunch of intercourse.

Sperm cells are only one part of a host of factors and agents involved in human reproduction. One of the reasons this kind of question/idea falls apart is that the fluids sperm cells are ejaculated with -- and the integrity of it -- is just as necessary to reproduction as those cells. And that's before you even get to the most integral parts of all this, which are all about the OTHER reproductive system involved, not sperm or semen. So, all this talk of just the cells like this just isn't sound. It also tends to reflect a real misunderstanding (and a very patriarchally-centered understanding, tbh, this notion it's really all or mostly about sperm, which it totally isn't, but so many of us were taught that way) of how reproduction does and doesn't work.

I suggest you take some time to read through all of this, which very thoroughly explains ALL the is needed for reproduction to happen: Human Reproduction: A Seafarer's Guide. Can you do that and see if that changes anything for you in terms of getting all this?

We can also talk about contraception, for the record, and what anyone needs to do to prevent pregnancy if this concern is about that. Because ultimately, preventing pregnancy isn't actually that difficult, and is a lot easier to understand than all the intricacies of reproduction!

Thanks Heather.

I will try to read the article you suggested.

Thanks again to you and Jacob for being very patient with me and my questions.

It's okay! Thanks for being patient with our English-only offerings!