Question:
Hi there.
While I appreciate your work on your websites, I have many disagreements on your theological and factual claims. But here I would like to respond to one of your articles on the idea that unejaculated semen may be reabsorbed; you said that there is no evidence and, thus, seemingly a well-accepted myth.
Even quick research reveals an ample amount of reputable medical websites affirming that semen need not be ejaculated; a person may choose to retain it, and it would be reabsorbed. These websites have references, too.
- Sissons (reviewed by Matta) 2020 on MedicalNewsToday: “Some people may choose to not ejaculate. Others may have a medical condition that prevents sperm from exiting the body. At present, no evidence indicates that blocking sperm from coming out is harmful. The body reabsorbs any sperm that does not leave the body.”
- Santos-Longhurst (rev. by Martinez) 2020 on Healthline: “There aren’t any known side effects to semen retention, so retain away if that’s your thing.”
- Cleveland Clinic: “Unejaculated sperm can stay alive in your testicles for about 2.5 months. Around this time, sperm cells die, and your body reabsorbs them.”
Lino et al. also reaffirmed this in a 1967 letter published by Nature 213, with the abstract reading, “The production of spermatozoa does not cease in sexually inactive males, and it becomes necessary to examine the means of disposal of the surplus spermatozoa. The two most likely ways are either that they are voided in the urine or that they are resorbed in the epididymis or vas deferens.”
Considering the reliability of these sources, the evidence for the reabsorption of unejaculated semen is overwhelming and indisputable. Indeed not everything said on these sites is 100% true; the Healthline source has a column specifically condoning porn. But to say that ejaculation is somehow essential/inevitable is unsupported by the available scholarship.
While it is true that men who have a blocked duct suffer pain upon ejaculation, it clearly only occurs in the specific instance where the man ejaculates. It is thus insufficient proof because not all men with blocked ducts ejaculate.
In light of these sources, I ask that you consider them. If you disagree with them, I think it’d be in your readers’ best interest to know any evidence a) supportive of the notion of inevitable ejaculation and b) sufficient to debunk semen resorption. If you agree with them, I think it’d be in your readers’ best interest that you retract your statements. As I see it, there is no reason to dispute these sources, as even though they are pro-masturbation, they find no reason to oppose semen retention.
Regards.
Answer:
As I noted in “What happens to unejaculated semen?” there is a difference between sperm and semen. Sperm occupies a tiny drop in the semen that a man ejaculates. Sperm is reabsorbed by the body, which is why vasectomies work. Semen is the fluid that is the bulk of what a man ejaculates. I noted that there are three known ways for semen to exit the body. Two ways involve ejaculation (wet dreams or masturbation). The third way is where semen drips out of the seminal vesicles, into the ejaculatory duct, and then into the urethra, where it is swept out the next time a man urinates or is heavily aroused and pre-ejaculate fluid pushes the semen out. These are well-documented.
Your Sissons source, the Cleveland Clinic, and Lino in Nature are talking about sperm.
In your second citation: “Are There Any Side Effects of Not Releasing Your Sperm (Ejaculating)?” Healthline, 4 June 2020. It again notes that sperm is reabsorbed, but it never states what happens to semen.
“PSA: Sperm and semen are often used interchangeably, but they aren’t the same thing.
Sperm is a male reproductive cell. You might have seen their microscopic tadpole-like shape in cheesy sex ed videos at school.
Semen — aka come — is the thick whitish fluid that’s expelled from your urethra when you ejaculate.
Unused sperm is broken down and reabsorbed by your body.”
I did a quick scan of the medical literature, but there hasn’t been any recent change in the studies. I did find mention that those involved in not ejaculating often use techniques that cause retrograde ejaculations. This is where semen, having nowhere else to go, enters the bladder and then is expelled at the next urination. Those mentioning this claim it is harmless, but I have notes that retrograde ejaculations are connected to increased bladder infections (1). Damage may also be caused to the sphincter muscle that usually closes off the bladder, leading to incontinence later in life. Another frequently mentioned problem is infertility because when you want your semen to exit and impregnate your wife, the semen ends up in your bladder.
Footnotes:
(1) “The link between lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and sexual dysfunction is well established.” [Kenneth Delay, “Ejaculatory dysfunction in the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms,” Translational Andrology and Urology, Aug 2016, found on PubMed Central].