Sperm's
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Sperm's
Medically Reviewed by Trina Pagano, MD on October 24, 2020
You may know it takes one sperm and one egg to make a baby , but if you're like most folks, you might not remember much else about sperm from biology class. If infertility is an issue for you and your partner, it helps to understand the basics.
The answer depends on a number of things, but the most important is where the sperm are located.
On a dry surface, such as clothing or bedding, sperm are dead by the time the semen has dried. In water, such as a warm bath or hot tub, they'll likely live longer because they thrive in warm, wet places. But the odds that sperm in a tub of water will find their way inside a woman's body and cause them to get pregnant are extremely low.
When sperm are inside women's body, they can live for up to 5 days. If you're a man and you have sex even a few days before your partner ovulates, there's chance they may get pregnant.
How many sperm do you need to get pregnant?
It takes just one sperm to fertilize a woman's egg. Keep in mind, though, for each sperm that reaches the egg, there are millions that don't.
On average, each time men ejaculate they release nearly 100 million sperm. Why are so many sperm released if it takes only one to make a baby? To meet the waiting egg, semen must travel from the vagina to the fallopian tubes, a tough journey that few sperm survive. Experts believe this process may be nature's way of allowing only the healthiest sperm to fertilize the egg, to provide the best chances of having a healthy baby .
For those sperm that complete the trip, getting into the egg, which is covered by a thick layer, is far from a sure thing.
Is there anything you can do to improve the health of your sperm?
Many of the things you do to keep yourself healthy can also do the same for sperm. Try some of these tips:
It's a test that can help your doctor figure out why you and your partner are having trouble having a baby.
Some things you can learn from the analysis:
Amount and thickness of semen. On average, each time men ejaculate they release 2-6 milliliters (mL) of semen, or around a 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon.
Less than that amount may not contain enough sperm for a woman to get pregnant. On the other hand, more than that could dilute the concentration of sperm.
Semen should be thick to start with and become thinner 10 to 15 minutes after ejaculation. Semen that stays thick may make it difficult for sperm to move.
Sperm concentration. Also called sperm density, this is the number of sperm in millions per milliliter of semen. Fifteen million or more sperm per mL is considered normal.
Sperm motility. This is the percentage of sperm in a sample that are moving, as well as an assessment of how they move. One hour after ejaculation, at least 32% of sperm should be moving forward in a straight line.
Morphology. This is an analysis of the size, shape, and appearance of sperm.
Do men stop making sperm when they're older?
Men can continue to be fertile throughout life. The amount of sperm you make goes down as you get older, but even elderly men have fathered children.
University of California, Santa Barbara, SexInfo Online: "How Long Can Sperm Live in Air? In a Bath?" "Semen;" and "Making Strong Sperm."
WomensHealth.gov: "Trying to Conceive."
Oakland University: "Dr. Lindemann's Sperm Facts."
University of Michigan Health System: "Male Infertility."
Lab Tests Online: "Semen Analysis."
MedlinePlus.gov: "Aging changes in the male reproductive system."
IVFMD.com: "New World Health Semen Analysis Parameters."
How much do you know about conception?
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WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
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Alternate titles: spermatozoa, spermatozoan, spermatozoon
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sperm , also called spermatozoon , plural spermatozoa , male reproductive cell , produced by most animals. With the exception of nematode worms, decapods (e.g., crayfish), diplopods (e.g., millipedes), and mites, sperm are flagellated; that is, they have a whiplike tail. In higher vertebrates, especially mammals, sperm are produced in the testes . The sperm unites with ( fertilizes ) an ovum (egg) of the female to produce a new offspring . Mature sperm have two distinguishable parts, a head and a tail.
The head of the sperm varies in shape for each animal species. In humans it is flattened and almond-shaped, four to five micrometres long and two to three micrometres wide (there are about 25,000 micrometres in an inch). The head portion is mainly a cell nucleus; it consists of genetic substances, called chromosomes , which are responsible for transmitting specific characteristics of an individual, such as the colour of eyes, hair, and skin. In each body cell of healthy humans, there are 46 chromosomes, which are responsible for the individual’s general physical makeup. The sperm cells have only 23 chromosomes, or half of the usual number. When a sperm cell unites with the ovum , which also has 23 chromosomes, the resulting 46 chromosomes determine the offspring’s characteristics . The sperm cells also carry the X or Y chromosome that determines the sex of the future child.
Covering the head of the sperm is a cap known as the acrosome , which contains enzymes that help sperm to enter an egg. Only one sperm fertilizes each egg, even though 300,000,000 to 400,000,000 sperm are contained in an average ejaculation . Each egg and sperm produced has slightly different genetic information carried in the chromosomes; this accounts for the differences and similarities between children of the same parents.
A small middle portion of the sperm contains the mitochondria. The tail of the sperm, sometimes called the flagellum , is a slender, hairlike bundle of filaments that connects to the head and middle portion. The tail is about 50 micrometres long; its thickness of one micrometre near the mitochondria gradually diminishes to less than one-half micrometre at the end of the tail. The tail gives the sperm cell movement. It whips and undulates so that the cell can travel to the egg. Following sperm deposition in the female reproductive tract, activation of tail movement is suppressed until the sperm is carried to within a relatively short distance of the egg. This gives the sperm an increased chance of reaching the egg before exhausting its energy supplies.
The activation of tail movements is part of the process of capacitation , in which the sperm undergoes a series of cellular changes that enables its participation in fertilization. A fundamental change that occurs during capacitation is alkalinization of sperm cytoplasm, in which the intracellular pH levels increase, particularly in the flagellum. This process, which is driven by the rapid movement of protons out of the cell through ion channels on the flagellum, underlies tail activation. Proton channels on sperm flagella are primed for opening by the presence in the female reproductive tract of a substance known as anandamide , which is thought to occur in high concentrations near the egg. Upon reaching an egg, enzymes contained within the sperm acrosome are activated, enabling the sperm to traverse the thick coat surrounding the egg (the zona pellucida ); this process is known as the acrosome reaction . The membrane of the sperm cell then fuses with that of the egg, and the sperm nucleus is conveyed into the egg.
Sperm deposited in the reproductive tract of the female that do not reach the egg die. Sperm cells may live in the human body for two or three days after mating. Sperm may also be stored in a frozen state for months or years and still retain their capacity to fertilize eggs when thawed.
The widespread nature of sexual reproduction in animals has raised intriguing questions concerning the evolutionary origins of sperm. Almost all living animals, from worms to insects to humans, possess a gene known as Boule ( BOULE ), which functions solely in sperm production. The presence of this gene in sea anemones —very primitive life-forms—suggests that the ability to produce sperm evolved only once, roughly 600 million years ago. Although the gene’s function is highly conserved among animals, it has diverged to give rise to a distinct form for each species.
According to studies performed in mice, the final stages of sperm maturation appear to be regulated by a gene known as Katnal1 , which is expressed by the Sertoli cells that support and nourish immature sperm within the walls of the seminiferous tubules (the site of spermatogenesis ). Dysfunction of Katnal1 is suspected to underlie some instances of male infertility, and thus, the gene represents a potential target for the development of male infertility drugs as well as new forms of male contraception .
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Anawalt BD, et al. Causes of male infertility. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Jan. 27, 2022.
Reproductive infertility. Endocrine Society. https://www.endocrine.org/patient-engagement/endocrine-library/infertility. Accessed Jan. 27, 2022.
Hornstein MD, et al. Optimizing natural fertility in couples planning pregnancy. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Jan. 27, 2022.
McAninch JW, et al. Male infertility. In: Smith and Tanagho's General Urology. 19th ed. McGraw Hill; 2020. https:// accessmedicine.mhmedical.com. Accessed Jan. 27, 2022.
Men's reproductive health in the workplace. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/repro/mensWorkplace.html. Accessed Jan. 27, 2022.
Fainberg J, et al. Recent advances in understanding and managing male fertility. F1000Research. 2019; doi: 10.12688/f1000research.17076.1.
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Healthy sperm Improving your fertility
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Healthy sperm aren't always a given. Understand how lifestyle factors can affect your sperm and what you can do to improve your fertility.
People planning a pregnancy might wonder about the health of their sperm. Know what can affect male fertility — then consider steps to help the sperm achieve the goal.
The male reproductive system makes, stores and moves sperm. Testicles produce sperm. Fluid from the seminal vesicles and prostate gland combine with sperm to make semen. The penis ejaculates semen during sexual intercourse.
Sperm health depends on various factors, including quantity, movement and structure:
Various medical issues can contribute to male fertility problems, including:
Age also can play a role. The ability of sperm to move and the number of typical sperm tend to decrease with age, affecting fertility, especially after age 50.
Simple steps to increase the chances of producing healthy sperm include:
Sperm can be especially vulnerable to environmental factors, such as exposure to excessive heat or toxic chemicals. To protect fertility:
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer can impair sperm production and cause infertility that might be permanent. Ask a health care provider about the possibility of retrieving and storing sperm before treatment.
Adopting healthy lifestyle practices to promote fertility — and avoiding things that can damage it — can improve the chances of conceiving. If you and your partner haven't gotten pregnant after a year of unprotected sex, however, you might consider being evaluated for infertility. A fertility specialist might be able to identify the cause of the problem and provide treatments that place you and your partner on the road to parenthood.
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