I grew up my entire life thinking that pre-cum had concentrated amounts of sperm in it and only this past year did I learn how wrong I was. Pre-cum is a bodily fluid and contains (in itself) no sperm. However, it can push sperm out of the penis so it's possible that when it comes out it may have sperm in it from a previous ejaculation. And because it is a bodily fluid there is also the possibility of passing along STDs (like HIV) that are passed along by bodily fluids, but the risks for getting something from pre-cum are much, much lower than with ejaculate.
What is it?
It's a pre-ejaculate fluid produced by the Cowper's gland (aka Bulbourethral gland) in males to clean out the urethra and make it a hospitable place for sperm to pass through by neutralizing the pH and pushing out anything (like urine or old sperm) that is leftover in the urethra. It is usually a clearish, mucusy fluid that comes out of the tip of the penis when a male is aroused, but it may not be visible in all men. Some men produce a lot of it and some only a little.
Can I get pregnant from it?
Again, there is no sperm in pre-cum itself. However, if the male has had a prior ejaculation, there may be leftover sperm in the urethra that can be pushed out with pre-cum. If he has urinated after the prior ejaculation, the chances of this happening are very low.
Can I get HIV from it?
There is the possibility. Pre-cum is a bodily fluid, and studies have shown that it can contain the HIV virus. It's important to note that the concentration of the virus in different bodily fluids can vary greatly. Blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal and cervical secretions have high enough concentrations of the HIV virus to be infectious, but the concentration of HIV in pre-cum isn't high enough to pose a significant risk. The possibility is there, but the theoretical risk is low.
References
- There are multiple small scale studies, but here's a link to just one study that confirms there is no sperm in pre-ejaculatory fluid
- Is it possible to transmit HIV through pre-cum? on UCSF HIV Insite
- Confused about HIV transmission statistics on Go Ask Alice: this is an interesting answer to a question about how HIV is transmitted and includes a paragraph on pre-cum.
No comments:
Post a Comment