What is Pre-Ejaculate? Is it semen or not? Can you start from it? Are the risks high? Is there anything else besides pregnancy? Let's talk about everything in order.
What is Pre-Ejaculate?
Pre-ejaculate, it's pre-seminal fluid, it's also pre-semen, it's also Cooper's fluid - this is a transparent secret that is released from the penis in a state of sexual excitement. Cooper's glands and Littre's glands, located near the urethra, the same tube through which semen and urine leave a man's body, are thought to produce pre-semen.
Amin Gerati, MD, a urologist at Johns Hopkins University, explains that pre-cum prepares the urethra for the passage of semen. The fact is that urine creates an acidic environment, which is very hostile to sperm. The pre-spermal fluid is needed to neutralize the residual acidity and make the path for the semen safe. In general, he regards precum as an artist opening for the main headliner of the show.
Wait, so there's sperm in the presemen?
No, they don't live there. But those little sources of trouble can remain in the urethra if your partner ejaculated before sex, especially if he didn't urinate afterward. And if all the stars align, Cooper's fluid could very well be delivering live sperm into your vagina.
"Usually this isn't enough, " says Dr. Geraghty. "The chance of pregnancy from pre-cum is very low, but it's never zero. "
There are not as many researches on this topic as we would like. In 2013, Human Fertility magazine published the results of one of them: Scientists tested 40 pre-ejaculate samples provided by 27 men. Live sperm were found in the presemen of 41% of the participants. True, you can't call them first class: Only 37 percent were mobile enough to make the journey to the womb.
The study authors noted that all but one of the "samples" contained up to 23 million sperm cells. It sounds ominous, but it's actually not a number to be feared. In 2010, WHO examined the semen of 1, 953 men who had women pregnant in the past year, and only 2. 5 percent of these men had fewer than 23 million sperm cells in their semen.
And why are we also talking about pre-ejaculate?
The question of pre-sperm is usually raised in relation to the method of interruption (aka coitus interruptus - just like the name of a dinosaur, right? ), which couples often use for contraception. It consists in the fact that a man extracts his penis from the vagina just before ejaculation to minimize the risk of pregnancy.
As you probably guessed, this is not the most effective method of protection - its reliability is only 78% with "normal" (not ideal) performance. And it certainly doesn't protect against STDs. But the precum is hardly to blame for the doubt of the "do it yourself" method: there are no studies that could answer the question of when pregnancy occurred due to pre-semen, and when - due to sperm, a drop of which ended up in the vagina anyway due to the man's carelessness.
So, the problem is not that the pre-seed contains a lot of sperm that you can get pregnant. The point is that it is very difficult to use the interrupt method perfectly. If you are concerned about two lines, choose condoms that have a 2% failure rate. Also, make sure your partner puts on the condom before her penis is in your vagina.
If you are going to resort to an interruption, remember: it requires trust in a lover. Do you know for sure that he is in control of himself and will always follow the rules you have established together? Discuss emergency contraception - don't forget that it's more expensive than condoms and if discontinuation is chosen by the economy then you can get into trouble.
And, of course, there are STDs. If both of you have been tested and you are not having unprotected sex with other people, then you have done everything to avoid such diseases. But if these two points are not met, it must be taken into account: without barrier contraception, it is very easy to pick up on something unpleasant.
And the infection occurs regardless of ejaculation. For example, gonorrhea and chlamydia often have a discharge from the genital tract that can transmit infections, and for some STDs, skin-to-skin contact is sufficient. Condoms do not protect against the latter, but help reduce the number of contacts.
Well, let's summarize. Precum is a pretty cool thing that has a specific purpose. Science cannot yet confidently answer the question of how great is the risk of becoming pregnant because of it, but it doesn't matter. The bottom line is that if you rely on the abort method and don't use condoms, you put yourself at risk of pregnancy and STDs. If this thought scares you, talk to your doctor: he will help you choose the means of protection that best suit your lifestyle.