A Question about Pre-cum

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2003
A Question about Pre-cum
8
Wed, 03-24-2004 - 11:13am
I have a question about pre-cum or pre-ejaculate. Now my understanding is that it is primarily seminal fluid coming from the prostate and the actual ejaculate comes from the testicles. I know that there can be some sperm in pre-ejaculate so there is a chance of pregnancy, but isn't the ejaculate where most of the sperm and most of the risk is? After all, pre-ejaculate is clear and ejaculate is milky white. I thought that indicated the presence of a lot of sperm. There is someone on another board who keeps insisting that pre-cum is MORE likely to get you pregnant than actual ejaculate. I simply don't think this is true. I would appreciate any authoritative information on this subject.

taoist.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2003
Wed, 03-24-2004 - 11:23am
Whether pre-ejaculate has 1% of the amount of sperm that ejaculate has, or 10%, or 100%, if it contains sperm, there is a risk that it could get you pregnant! It only take one little spermie making it to the egg. Different men will have different amount of sperm in their pre-cum, it likely even differs with each act of arousal.

If you don't want to be pregnant, I think any number of sperm in the vicinity of your eggs is too many.

The statement that pre-ejaculate is MORE likely to get you pregnant sounds crazy. I will guess that it is just as likely..... if you happen to be at a really fertile point in your cycle.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 03-25-2004 - 7:27am

I agree.

Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2003
Thu, 03-25-2004 - 8:18am
This came to mind when I read this. When I was having trouble getting pregant, the first thing they did was a sperm analysis on my husband. There are several things they look at including morphology and motility. Another thing was how many there were per unit(cant remember the measurement). They said that sperm are a team the they need each other to "score". Kind of like how in NASCAR drivers will get in anothers draft and be carried along to save fuel. Anyway, basically they said if there werent enough sperm they couldnt get to the egg as well as if they were plentiful. Now, thats all fine and dandy scientific stuff, but I am not going to be a test case! Just wanted to mention that. I am certainly NOT saying I believe this. It is only an issue if you are trying to get pregnant and are unsuccessful.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Thu, 03-25-2004 - 8:30am
OMG, Josie!

What a great analogy! I'll never think of a NASCAR race the same way again! All those little spermies jockeying for position! lol! Well, the real guys are advertising for Viagra now, so.... You made my day!

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-07-2004
Thu, 03-25-2004 - 10:43am
hi! first that person who keeps insisting that pre-cum is more likely than the actual ejaculation to get you pregnant is sadly misinformed...while it can get you pregnant, the risk is definitely greater from the actual ejaculate than from the pre stuff. there is a miliion times more sperm in the ejaculate than in the pre. youre right-the other person is not.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2003
Thu, 03-25-2004 - 1:39pm
Glad I made your day Jill! Teaching, I always have to come up with some quirky way for the kids to understand things and it just carries over! If I see Mark Martin using this for a Viagra commercial I better be seeing some cash!
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-15-2003
Thu, 03-25-2004 - 2:49pm
All things equal, ejaculate is WAY more likely to get you pregnant than pre-ejaculate is. What might be confusing the other poster is that, since a lot of people (especially teenagers) don't realize that the pre-ejaculate contains sperm, they think that pulling out is a completely safe method of birth control, leading to a lot of "oops" pregnancies. So in that respect, pre-ejaculate may be more likely to get you pregnant simply because you're not as likely to take the same precautions about it as you are with ejaculate. Does that kind of make sense? Like I said though, given the same precautions, ejaculate is WAY more likely to cause pregnancy.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 03-26-2004 - 10:07am

"They said that sperm are a team the they need each other to "score". Kind of like how in NASCAR drivers will get in anothers draft and be carried along to save fuel."


haha!

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