Sperm Lifespan In Male Body: How Long Does It Live?

To father a child, the male partner needs to have healthy sperms. The sperm is produced in the two testicles or testes. This process starts at puberty. Men can produce an average of 1000 sperm per second. This means if a man is fertile, he will never run out of healthy sperms. To understand how long sperm lives in the male body, it is essential to understand how it is produced and released.

Sperm Life Cycle

When a boy is born, the seminiferous tubules in the testes contain simple round cells. During puberty, these cells are transformed into sperms with a head, mid-section and tail. The sperms use their long tails to push themselves out of the tubes into the epididymis. For the next 2 to 4 weeks the sperm swims through the epididymis as it develops further. From here it moves into the sperm duct or vas deferens where it is mixed with seminal fluid to form semen. This process is known as Spermatogenesis.
When a man reaches an orgasm after sexual stimulation, this semen is pushed out of the body through the urethra. On an average, a man ejaculates 500 million sperms at a time. If the sperm enters a woman's vagina it will try to fertilize an egg. A sperm can live for up to 5 days in the woman's vagina. However, if it is released into the open, it cannot live for more than a few minutes.
If sperm is not ejaculated, it stays in the man's body for about 74 days. After this, the sperm cells die and are reabsorbed by the body.

How Does this Affect Fertility?

If a couple is trying to get pregnant, the man should avoid ejaculating for a few days before sexual intercourse. This increases the concentration of sperm in the semen and maximizes sperm count and the chances of impregnating his partner.