BUST THOSE MYTHS ABOUT SPERM

‘Sperm swim like Olympic athletes’

The common tale is that millions — anywhere from 20 to 300 million — of sperm swim in competition with each other to be the lucky one that penetrates the egg. Well, not quite. Sperm don’t really swim straight, they require a boost from the womb muscle to coax the sperm to enter the fallopian tubes and find the egg. ‘Thicker semen is more fertile’

Thicker semen doesn’t necessarily mean stronger sperm. Usually it means there’s a high number of sperm that a man hasn’t ejaculated for some time. ‘Sperm only live for a short time after ejaculation’ No. Sperm that make it into the vagina after ejaculation can live up to several days. Male sperm can live up to 36 hours and female sperm for longer, up to three days.