Sperm Facts and What They Mean for Your Health

Winter is usually a time for indulgence, Christmas Parties, work drinks and more than our fair share of fatty foods and treats. But how can this impact your sperm health? Especially given the time it takes to produce healthy sperm cells. A indulgent Christmas can have lasting effects into the spring, especially if you’re partying way too much. Check out this informative guest blog from Carleen Heath, Lab Manager at Gennet City Fertility in London who are My Surrogacy Journey provider and Partner for our FDA Process. For a previous blog announcing this service check it out here.

‘There are many things to know about sperm, your fertility, and your health overall. However, we also know that learning it all at once can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve started you off with some facts to get you started on the way to a well-rounded knowledge of sperm and what different things about it could mean for your health and fertility.

A Few Things You Should Know About Sperm

Here, we’ve listed a few facts that you should know about your sperm. We’ve also dispelled a few myths that you might have been told over the course of your life so far:

• Sperm cells are about 50 micrometres long, or 5/100ths of a single millimetre. They’re one of the smallest cells in the human body, which is a contrast compared to the egg, which is one of the largest.
  
• What sperm lack in size, they make up for in numbers. A healthy semen ejaculation should produce around 15 million sperm per millilitre or more.
  
• Overall, it takes a human body about 64 days to produce full sperm cells, but research suggests this is affected by healthy living. If you’ve been unwell, or slipped into some unhealthy habits, it’s likely that your sperm health may start to decline.
  
• Sperm cells carry 23 chromosomes, or half of the 46 required for cells in the human body. An egg contains the other 23, and when they’re combined they’ll create a new individual with their own unique mix of 46 chromosomes.
  
• One of the 23 chromosomes carried by a sperm cell will be an X or Y chromosome. These are called the sex chromosomes, and as egg cells only carry X sex chromosomes, it will be up to the chromosome carried by the sperm cell to determine the sex of an embryo.
  
• Sperm production works best at a temperature that’s slightly lower than standard body temperature, which is why the testes hang outside of the body.
  
• Linked to this, there’s a belief that tight underwear affects sperm count, while loose boxers keep the genital area at just the right temperature for sperm to thrive. This isn’t true, and studies have found that underwear choices have almost no effect on your sperm count.
  
• Many people assume that sperm will die soon after being ejaculated, but this is false. Sperm can actually live in a female reproductive tract for up to 5 days, which means it’s possible for a woman to get pregnant at any point during this timeframe if her ovaries have released an egg.

Checking Up On Your Sperm Health

Keeping yourself healthy means keeping every part of your body healthy, and this means including your fertility in any medical discussion. Whether you’re planning to form a family in the near future or even if you’re single and just want to be in the best shape possible, GENNET City Fertility will have the consultation package you need.

By choosing their private clinic for a Male Fertility Assessment or a Couple’s Initial Consultation Package, you’ll be setting yourself up for service from discreet specialists who’ll tailor every test and treatment to suit you. Get in touch with them to see what you think, and start your journey with a team that offers both excellence and hope’.

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone. Much Love x