How to Know If Sperm Entered Your Body during Vaginal Sex

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Learn the mechanics of sex to avoid unwanted pregnancy
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Sex is a magical, passionate, and fun experience, but it can result in pregnancy if you aren’t careful. But how do you know if sperm is actually going to enter your body and fertilize an egg when you have vaginal intercourse? While sperm may be too microscopic to feel inside of your body, there are ways to determine if you’re pregnant or not. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about contraception, sperm, pregnancy, and what you can do to avoid unwanted outcomes.

Things You Should Know

  • You cannot determine if sperm has entered your body without taking a pregnancy test.
  • It’s impossible to feel sperm inside of your body, but you may feel semen leaking out when you stand up.
  • If the condom broke, you had unprotected sex, or he ejaculated on your vagina, it’s possible that sperm went inside your body.
Section 1 of 7:

Can you confirm if sperm entered the body?

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  1. If you’ve had unprotected sex, the odds are pretty good sperm is inside you, but there’s no way to check. However, you can test if sperm has swam past the cervix and entered the fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg after 10-14 days. Go to your local pharmacy and purchase a pregnancy test . Follow the instructions on the test to determine if you’re pregnant or not. [1]
    • Typically, you’ll pee directly on the test strip. Some test strips require you to pee in a clean cup and set the test inside of the urine for a few minutes.
    • Pregnancy tests are 99% effective, but you may want to take two tests just to confirm the results are accurate.
    • Pregnancy tests are measuring the amount of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in your blood. This is a hormone that your body produces large amounts of early in pregnancy.
    • Sperm may enter your body and not make you pregnant, but there’s no way to check or know if that happened. You can only confirm if sperm got far enough to fertilize an egg.
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Section 2 of 7:

Signs Sperm May Have Entered

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  1. If the condom broke at any point during intercourse, it’s possible that sperm has entered your body. This is why it’s so important to use a condom correctly . It’s also essential that you use lubrication , if necessary, as excessive friction can cause a condom to tear. [2]
  2. If you had sex without contraception , even for a minute, it’s possible that sperm went inside of your body. Avoid having vaginal penetrative sex if you don’t have access to some form of birth control . There are plenty of ways to have great sex without penis-in-vagina penetration. [3]
  3. While it’s extremely rare, it is possible for semen to get into your body if semen ends up on or near your vagina—even if you never had penetrative sex. It’s also possible for sperm to end up in your body if your partner puts his fingers on or inside of you when he has sperm on his hands. Again, this is extremely rare, but it’s possible. [4]
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Section 3 of 7:

Can you feel sperm entering the body?

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  1. The sperm are the individual reproductive cells floating around in the semen. They’re actually so microscopically small that scientists struggle to measure them. [5] You’re not going to feel them swimming inside of you or on your skin. However, you may feel semen inside of you if a man ejaculates in your vagina—especially when you stand up or move your legs.
    • Sperm refers to the individual “swimmers” inside of semen. It only takes one sperm cell to impregnate an egg. The average male ejaculation contains 500 million individual sperm. [6]
    • Sperm inside of the body alone will not cause pregnancy—a sperm cell must swim up through the cervix and into the fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg. If there’s no egg or a sperm cell never passes through the cervix, fertilization will not occur.
Section 4 of 7:

Can sperm enter the body without ejaculation?

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  1. When a man is turned on, he may secrete a little bit of fluid from his penis. This fluid is pre-ejaculate, most commonly known as pre-cum, and it often contains sperm. So, if you have unprotected sex, sperm may enter your body even if the man doesn’t ejaculate. [7]
    • The odds are less likely that you’ll get pregnant if he doesn’t ejaculate, but they’re not zero.
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Section 5 of 7:

How long can sperm live inside of the body?

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  1. Once the sperm enters the vagina, it automatically begins swimming up to the fallopian tubes to look for an egg to fertilize. If there is no egg, the sperm will stay alive for up to 5 days waiting for one, although most sperm will start to die after 2-3 days. [8]
    • Sperm will die very quickly outside of the body. As soon as they’re exposed to open air, they begin to die. At most, sperm will live a few minutes. [9]
Section 6 of 7:

What should I do if I think sperm has entered my body?

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  1. Plan B, and its generic alternatives (often called the “morning after” pill), is an emergency contraceptive you can take up to 3 days after having unprotected sex to prevent a pregnancy . The pill will prevent the egg from being released into the fallopian tubes if you happen to be ovulating. [10]
    • In some states that have overturned Roe v. Wade, Plan B has also been under scrutiny. You may need to contact Plan B directly to find it near you.
    • Plan B is not an “abortion pill.” It will not terminate a fertilized egg. All it does is prevent the egg from being fertilized in the first place.
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Section 7 of 7:

Can you increase the odds of sperm entering the body?

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  1. There are a few popular “tricks” couples have used throughout history to increase the chances of getting pregnant. Most of these maneuvers aren’t scientifically proven, but they won’t hurt your odds! [11] You can try to:
    • Have the man finish deeper inside you. In theory, this will help the sperm reach the cervix faster.
    • Skip the oral sex. Saliva can kill sperm, so in theory, you’re best sticking to penetration.
    • Rock back with your hips raised after finishing. With the sperm inside of you, try raising your legs in the air to help the sperm trickle deeper inside.
    • Have passionate, stress-free sex. This one will work! The more enjoyable and fun the sex is, the more your body will relax, which will make things easier for the sperm.

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      References

      1. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9703-pregnancy-tests
      2. ↑ https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/what-do-i-do-if-the-condom-broke
      3. ↑ https://slate.com/human-interest/2022/05/avoiding-pregnancy-penetrative-sex-advice.html
      4. ↑ https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/pregnancy/can-i-get-pregnant-if-i-have-sex-without-penetration/
      5. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739080/
      6. ↑ https://www.healthcentral.com/article/how-long-does-sperm-live-outside-the-body
      7. ↑ https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/can-you-get-pregnant-from-pre-cum-im-hearing-different-stories
      8. ↑ https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/expert-answers/pregnancy/faq-20058504
      9. ↑ https://www.healthcentral.com/article/how-long-does-sperm-live-outside-the-body
      1. ↑ https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/morning-after-pill-emergency-contraception/whats-plan-b-morning-after-pill
      2. ↑ https://www.parents.com/getting-pregnant/trying-to-conceive/tips/best-sex-for-getting-pregnant/

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