Scarleteen

Hi, I'm having an issue that is causing me a lot of (probably unnecessary) anxiety, that is the possibility of contamination with precum of the external surface of a condom while handling and putting it on.

I had PIV sex about 10 days ago with my casual girl friend with benefits and during foreplay I kept an eye on avoiding contact between my hands as I was masturbating her with one and me with the other. I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty confident that I had some precum on my left digits and I might have wiped them too (again not sure) but either way I used both hands to put a condom on and forgot about the hand "rule". I also changed condom mid sex so I might have contaminated that too. Then I finished in the condom outside as I don't feel comfortable to finish inside despite the use of protection and I also checked for no leaks.

Now I found a similar situation previously discussed on this forum but in that post all the staff answers were about how sperm is fragile and can't survive from being moved from place to place... However I'm not so sure about how this can be said for a surface like a condom that gets exposed to air only for about 30 seconds before sexual activity. How can you be so sure?

I'm trying to see how rational this is before talking to her as I don't want to cause her unnecessary anxiety and I would rather avoid the whole waiting and pregnancy test hustle

Hi there, UrcaLunca.

This still isn't something that poses a real risk of pregnancy, and I wouldn't suggest you worry your partner with it. Have you ever read this piece that explains all that's needed for pregnancy to happen? If not, I think it would be a good one for you: https://www.scarleteen.com/read/pregnan ... rers-guide

We can be so sure when we know the kinds of scientific facts you see there, which include things like sperm cells needing the kind of propulsion ejaculation creates, and there needing to be at least around 500 of the best and brightest of sperm calls to fertilize an egg, which won't even be the case with, at best, trace sperm moved around like this. And that's before we even get to all that's required with your partner's body. <3

Hello Heather and thanks for the reply

My fear I guess stems from the fact, also said in the article, that sperm remains mobile for about 30 minutes outside in the environment, so I thought that digital penetration wasn't a problem in case of contamination just because of the length of fingers. So would precum or even semen then only be risky without protection nor any hand touch? So moving them on a hand or finger before the penis enough to make them non viable even with penile penetration?

I also don't get the propulsion aspect because I know that not all men have propulsion and some just drip during ejaculation, is that another important factor?

Thanks

Pre-ejaculate very rarely has sperm cells in it, period, and when it does, it's trace sperm. We can't talk about that the same way we can about a full ejaculation, because they are simply wildly different: the latter has millions to even billions of sperm cells, while the former has a few hundred. The latter has all the best and brightest of those cells, while the former has the literal bottom of the barrel. And a full ejaculation has the fluid needed, the latter does not. And even just enough propulsion for ejaculation to happen is enough.

But too, that fluid and those cells just sitting out aren't going to be able to do anything ONCE they have been sitting out, because *how* those fluids and cells get to the cervix is specific and matters. They can't move on their own.

IRL, not in theory, nor in a lab, people become pregnant through direct contact between a penis and a vagina or vulva, almost always from intercourse or something very like it, like rubbing those genitals together. Again, moving sperm cells around breaks their tails and also takes them from the fluids needed to protect them, move them and counter the acidic nature of the vagina.

Make sense?