10 Craaaazy, WTF Facts You NEVER Knew About Sperm

There are HOW many of them?

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Sex is about as much fun as two people can have. This is a well-documented fact. But when it comes to sperm, are you all up on your swimmers-knowledge? There's a lot to know about those little guys. Here are just ten of the many wild facts you should know about sperm.

1. Not all sperm are made equal.

As much as a man would love to have millions of perfect little guys, the fact is that many of them are deformed. We're talking two heads, two tails, squiggly tails, heads that are too large or two small, and so on.

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2. Sperm are hard workers.

Well, not all of them. But of the ones that can swim straight enough to get to the egg, one lucky bugger (though, sometimes more than one) drills its way into the egg to begin fertilization.

3. There's a difference between "sperm" and "semen."

Many people use both terms interchangeably, but they aren't the same substance. Sperm cells are just one part of the semen. Seminal fluid also contains fructose and proteolytic, among other enzymes, to help the sperm on their way.

4. In the average ejaculate, there are 200 million sperm.

That's some steep competition!

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5. Sperm don’t have to be moving to fertilize an egg.

That's both true and not true. For natural fertilization to occur, the sperm has to be able to swim and drill into the egg, but during in vitro fertilization, the sperm is injected directly into the egg, making motion on the sperm's part a non-issue.

6. They don't always know where they're going.

Only about half of the sperm who are ejaculated make it to the egg. The rest doodle around in circles.

7. For healthy sperm to exist in a man's body, the testicles need to be cooler than the body.

On average, testicles are seven degrees cooler than the rest of the body. You don't want the testicles to be any closer to the warmth than necessary. That's why boxers are better than briefs when it comes to making babies.

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8. The production process is different in men and women. 

Ladies are born with all the eggs they will ever have in their life. But men are constantly making new sperm. It takes about two months for a sperm cell to go from start to finish.

9. Diet plays a big role in the taste of semen.

Gentlemen, if you're partial to oral sex, do both of you a favor by exercising regularly and maintaining a diet high in fruits and veggies. It benefits you in that you will have healthier sperm, and it benefits your partner in that his semen tastes better. A diet high in red meat, dairy, garlic and coffee will make the taste of his semen take a nosedive.

10. There are male and female sperm.

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Some carry the X chromosome while others carry the Y chromosome. The "males" tend to be faster, but the "females" are stronger, so it's kind of a stalemate in the sperm gender war.