Many men and women wonder whether pre-ejaculate (commonly known as pre-cum) can cause pregnancy if a man’s pre-ejaculate gets near or inside a woman’s vagina during sex without a condom. The answer? Usually not but, in some cases, maybe. Here’s why:
1. Pre-ejaculate is composed of fluid made by the Cowper glands, two small glands inside the body toward the base of a man’s penis (and possibly some other small glands contribute to this fluid, too).
2. Pre-ejaculatory fluid is actually pretty awesome. Since urine (pee) leaves a man’s body through his urethra, the pH (thanks to urine) is not necessarily “friendly” for sperm. So what does the body do? It gives us pre-ejaculate which helps to neutralize the urethra, thus creative a safe passageway for sperm.
3. As sperm are made in the testes, a man’s pre-ejaculatory fluid does not contain sperm. This has been documented in research, which suggests that pre-ejaculate would not - under typical circumstances – get a woman pregnant. That said, there are some situations in which pre-ejaculatory fluids could “pick up” leftover sperm in a man’s urethra on their way out, such as if a man had just ejaculated (leaving sperm in this urethra), waited a while (without peeing, which could have swept the sperm away) and then gotten aroused again and had sex. In this case, pre-ejaculatory fluid from the second arousal might “pick up” leftover sperm from the first ejaculation and those sperm could potentially cause a woman to get pregnant if the man’s pre-ejaculatory fluid them delivered them to her doorstep, so to speak.
4. On a related note, not all men are able to control the timing of their ejaculation. Many men – especially young men and men who are new to sex or haven’t had sex in a long time – may find that they come more quickly than they would like. Therefore, although pre-ejaculate itself wouldn’t normally get a woman pregnant, the reliance on the withdrawal method of birth control (“pulling out” before ejaculation) is often not recommended as a man may have good intentions to withdraw, but find that he pulls out too late, thus getting semen (that contains sperm!) in his partner’s vagina.
5. Pre-ejaculatory fluid, while typically free of sperm, can transmit infections such as HIV. As such, unprotected sex (sex without a condom) carries a risk of infection even if the sex lasts only for a few seconds or minutes. If you are not sure if you or your partner has a sexually transmissible infection (STI) or if one or both of you does not want a pregnancy, consider abstaining from intercourse or using a condom during intercourse.
Read Related Articles on MSP:
- Q&A: Can a woman get pregnant from a man’s pre-ejaculate (pre-cum)?
- Do birth control pills cause weight gain?
- Q&A: Is it safe to swallow semen?
- Does semen volumen decrease with age?
[Above photo taken of a shop window in Florence, Italy in February 2009.]
