How much sperm is needed to get a woman pregnant?

Last updated on August 18, 2020

Question:

How much sperm is needed to get a woman pregnant? Can you get a woman pregnant without ejaculating in her? Is it possible to get a woman pregnant from fondling? Can a girl get pregnant if the sperm touches outside of the vagina?

Answer:

Technically, it only requires one sperm cell meeting up with a woman’s egg cell to cause pregnancy. To increase the odds of this happening, God designed your body to release a large amount of sperm with each ejaculation. The typical healthy male releases about 500,000,000 sperm cells with each ejaculation. Each of these cells has a vibrating tail that allows it to move on its own and a chemical sensing mechanism that guides it in the general direction of a woman’s egg cell. Once your sperm is within your wife’s vagina, it is able to survive up to six days in its quest for the egg cell. Yet with all this beneficial aid, the typical married couple trying to conceive a child has an 85% chance of conception in one year. In other words, in one year’s time, 85 out of 100 couples having regular intercourse will conceive a child. It is really a gamble; it could happen the very first time or it could happen after the fiftieth try.

Because of the odds, many men think they can have sex outside of marriage and not get caught by a pregnancy. Conception can occur if just one sperm cell is in the right place at the right time. For example, the pre-ejaculate fluid produced by the Cowper’s gland (sometimes called pre-cum in slang) can contain sperm cells. Not a large quantity, but it can contain sperm. Hence, it is technically possible for a woman to become pregnant even if a man does not ejaculate within her. This is why withdrawing before ejaculation has a 19% failure rate. In other words, in one year 19 couples out of a hundred will find the woman pregnant when the man manages to successfully withdraw before ejaculating each time they have sex. It could happen the first time — I personally knew a young man who had it happen to him — or it could happen after the third or hundredth time.

Nor does the man’s penis have to be in the woman’s vagina to create the possibility for conception. Because people fondle each other during sex, it is possible for pre-ejaculate or even semen to be accidentally pushed by a finger near the opening to the vagina. I have clippings of stories in my files where women became pregnant and the couple claim they never removed their underwear (cloth is porous after all). Just because the odds are remote doesn’t mean it can’t ever happen. The odds of being struck by lightning are far higher, but several people each year still manage to get hit.

Face the facts: God created sexual intercourse to cause a woman to conceive a child. This is one reason why He stated that sex should only be done by married couples. When you are married, it is a wonderful and marvelous gift; but when you are unmarried, it is a source of grief. “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).


The following stories are from WikiAnswers: Can You Get Pregnant Without Penetration?

Even though it isn’t a common factor, it is possible. Three months after not having my period I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant. Why didn’t I suspect sooner? I didn’t think it was possible to get pregnant without penetration either. I was very wrong. I found out also after talking to several ladies I knew that three of them got pregnant the very same way and had to have a doctor explain to them how it was possible. Basically, the more lubricated the path to the egg, the more likely it is to happen. I’m 22 now with an almost-three-year-old son and even though people think I’m lying at times, I really want people to understand this is more common than they believe. A child is always a blessing but an unexpected one can take away from the joy.

Yes, you can get pregnant without penetration, I know because that’s how I got pregnant, this is something that every young girl should know, it can be devastating, nobody believes you, they just think you’re lying. After the doctor explained how it happened it was actually very simple to understand. When you’re a virgin the inside of the vagina is like a way with a very small opening. If any sperm gets into that opening your in big trouble.

The following stories are from MotheringDotCommune Forums: Getting Pregnant Without Intercourse:

A friend of mine recently announced she was pregnant. This will be her second child. She said they weren’t trying and they didn’t even have intercourse. (He travels a lot and was only home to do anything once during her fertile phase and then afterward) She says that he ejaculated on her, and, since she was fertile, some must have made its way in and up. (lol) She says it was the day before she ovulated (she charts).

Actually, this is how Suzanne Somers conceived her son Bruce (I read her book Keeping Secrets). She was unmarried and going to a private boarding school that had a curfew. She missed curfew, so she and her boyfriend got a hotel and were doing some heavy petting and what not. According to her, she didn’t even take off her underwear. He ejaculated on her underwear, and lo and behold, 9 months later, Bruce was born.

My last pregnancy (that sadly ended in an early miscarriage) was from spillage out the top of the condom we were using! We were being so careful and that’s the only way it happened. I only got a little of my dear husband’s stuff on me down there but apparently it was enough! It was three days before I ovulated too! Go figure. I guess there were enough swimmers and they were strong enough to make their way in and up! lol! Funny thing is — we actually tried to get pregnant my last cycle and did everything perfectly, and I did not conceive! Weird. lol