Dear ReproRants,
Will you ever run out of sperm?
Thank you!
Thank you so much for asking this question! The short answer to your question is no but there is a lot to talk about as to why this is not only a super interesting topic but has a lot of stuff to talk about. When I was going through my college educational career I actually had someone ask this same question in my anatomy class as we completely brushed past how sperm were actually produced. Not only was it very briefly covered but when trying to find academic sources with concrete information on things like how much sperm is produced, healthy sperm counts, and what can impact making sperm, there is a distinct lack of accessible research making claims on those topics. In fact when doing research most of the articles discussing this topic cite numbers collected before the 2000’s back as far as the 80s making some of the information around 40 years old. However, we do know that men as old as 92 years old have successfully gotten individuals pregnant meaning that even as men age they still produce sperm. This does not mean that the sperm is as effective or of the same quality but that will be talked about later in the article. If you are interested in learning a little bit about the physiology (or biological process) behind how the body makes sperm then that will be discussed below! (Fair warning it might get a little technical but I will try to explain terms as we go!)
The testis which are the individual testicles begin producing sperm at the start of male puberty and from what we currently understand never stop producing sperm your entire life. This process is called spermatogenesis and takes place in a dense set of tubes in the testis called the seminiferous tubules where the sperm are not only created but allowed to grow until they are “matured” meaning ready to leave the body. Once sperm are “matured” they are stored in a structure that runs right along the testis called the epididymis which stores sperm until it is released.
We know that age affects sperm for reasons such as the DNA in the sperm being damaged over time or decreased production of sperm due to the testis shrinking as someone gets to the later stages of their life. I find this fascinating as when the testis shrink they have quite literally less room to store and make sperm. Another factor that I find fascinating about sperm production is its interaction with temperature. The reason the testis are held outside of the body in the scrotum is that spermatogenesis and high temperature don’t play nice. The testis are maintained at 2-6 degrees C (Celsius) lower than the body which is 35 degrees C or 95 degrees Fahrenheit. In a study done in 2019 a raise in temperature of as much as a couple of degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit can lead to a large decrease in healthy sperm.
Finally, a question I have seen frequently asked is whether or not ejaculation impacts your ability to produce sperm. Multiple studies have found that ejaculation does not impact sperm production in that it does not lead to worse quality sperm or your body producing less sperm. The study also stated that even daily ejaculation can still lead to ejaculate (semen) that has sperm in amounts that can lead to pregnancy. However, two to five days of abstinence from ejaculation can lead to a higher volume of ejaculate and sperm increasing chances of getting another individual pregnant due to sperm building up in the epididymis.
Works Cited:
Abdelhamid, M. H., Walschaerts, M., Ahmad, G., Mieusset, R., Bujan, L., & Hamdi, S. (2019). Mild experimental increase in testis and epididymis temperature in men: effects on sperm morphology according to spermatogenesis stages. Translational Andrology and Urology, 8(6), 651–665. https://doi.org/10.21037/tau.2019.11.18
Ayad, B. M., Van der Horst, G., & du Plessis, S. S. (2017). Short abstinence: A potential strategy for the improvement of sperm quality. Middle East Fertility Society Journal, 23(1), 37–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mefs.2017.07.005
Comar, V. A., Petersen, C. G., Mauri, A. L., Mattila, M., Vagnini, L. D., Renzi, A., Petersen, B., Nicoletti, A., Dieamant, F., Oliveira, J. B., Baruffi, R. L., & Franco Jr, J. G. (2017). Influence of the abstinence period on human sperm quality: analysis of 2,458 semen samples. JBRA Assisted Reproduction, 21(4), 306–312. https://doi.org/10.5935/1518-0557.20170052
Mayorga-Torres, B. J., Camargo, M., Agarwal, A., du Plessis, S. S., Cadavid, Á. P., & Cardona Maya, W. D. (2015). Influence of ejaculation frequency on seminal parameters. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12958-015-0045-9
Nishimura, H., & L'Hernault, S. W. (2017). Spermatogenesis. Current Biology, 27(18), 988–994. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.07.067
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