How long do sperm live after ejaculation?

After a man's sperm is ejaculated into a woman's body, it usually does not immediately combine with the woman's egg. This process requires many complicated steps, so the man's sperm must have a certain survival time so that it can swim in the woman's body and then successfully combine with the egg to form a fertilized egg. So under normal circumstances, how long is the survival time of the sperm ejaculated by a man?

Sperm survival time after ejaculation:

Under the ever-increasing pressure of life today, both men and women are busy at work, spinning like a top non-stop. For modern people, it is not uncommon for couples to be separated for a long time for work. In order to get pregnant in one go, many couples of childbearing age can only calculate the ovulation date in advance, meet in a hurry, and start the baby-making project. As we all know, there will be errors in the ovulation date of women. If the ovulation period is delayed, the sperm needs to survive longer. So, how long does male sperm survive?

How long does sperm survive?

The survival time of sperm in vitro actually varies from person to person and is also related to the external environment. Although sperm can survive in the male reproductive tract for several weeks, they can only survive in the semen after ejaculation for 24-72 hours at most. If the temperature is lowered, semen can be stored for several weeks. The following is the survival time of sperm in different environments:

1. Survival time of active sperm in 37℃ environment: more than 4 to 8 hours;

2. Survival time of active sperm in the vagina: 0.5 days;

3. Survival time of active sperm in the cervix: 2 to 8 days;

4. Survival time of active sperm in the uterus and fallopian tube: 2 to 2.5 days.

5. If the temperature is lowered, the sperm can survive for several weeks; if frozen with liquid nitrogen, the sperm can survive longer and can even be stored for a long time.

What conditions are necessary for sperm to survive

Sperm survival conditions have very strict temperature requirements and can only survive when the temperature is lower than body temperature (the temperature inside the testicles is generally lower than the average human body temperature). The temperature requirement is around 34℃~35℃, but generally speaking, the survival time of sperm in vitro is very short. In addition, the pH value of male semen is 7.2-8.4, which has a buffering effect on the pH value of the vagina and can protect sperm. An environment with a pH value between 7.2-8.4 is more suitable for sperm survival.

Generally speaking, only 1-2 sperms are lucky enough to combine with the egg, and the rest of the sperms die within 24-36 hours. Only the sperm stored in the crypts of the cervical mucosa can live up to 2-6 days. Despite this, its fertilization ability has been basically lost because the fertilization ability of sperm can only last for about 20 hours.

In this age where efficiency is everything, even pregnancy has taken the path of efficiency and speed. From the above content, we can know that although male sperm can survive in the female body for up to 8 days, the ability to fertilize can only be around 20 hours. Therefore, the probability of calculating the ovulation date to get pregnant quickly is not very high.