How long does sperm live?
It depends.
Inside a woman’s body, it doesn’t live long at all, if we’re referring to in the vaginal canal. Sperm that is in the vagina will leak out or die before a few hours. However, if the sperm makes it to the cervical mucus, then it can live for a day or two there. But some “top survivor” sperm will live even longer, beyond 4 days. Remember, we are talking about several millions of sperm, so they survive different durations. Because there are so many INDIVIDUAL sperm, the lifespan varies between the fastest to die and the slowest to die. It’s sort of like us asking the question “How many years can a car be driven before it needs a major repair” In general, that answer might be 1-5 years, but you can always have that one car that is still running after 10 years without a repair, even though that is an uncommon exception. So in a particular grouping of sperm, the wimpiest will die instantly, and each minute more die until after a few days, only the best survive. It’s not a scenario where the sperm all stay alive and then a biological alarm goes off and they all instantly die at the same time.
Inside the male’s body, the life span of sperm is 74 days. This means if a man does something bad for sperm (smokes marijuana or tobacco), then the sperm will be negatively affected for a long time.
Outside the body, sperm die very quickly (less than a few hours), unless of course, we are talking about sperm that is placed outside the body into a special laboratory environment. Then it can live several days. If that sperm is frozen properly, then it can live indefinitely until it is thawed.
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August 1st, 2008 at 8:25 am
How long can sperm survive outside the body, like in a covered cup or on a tied condom?
January 8th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
so if i put sperm in an air tight container it may last for a few days? or should it be in a container with no oxygen?
January 16th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Just to double check. So that means right after the sperm (the strongest one let’s say) is being ejaculated into the cervix, it can only survive for 3-7 days (read it from other sources), meaning that it DIES after 7 days right?
January 17th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
In one single release of sperm there can be over a hundred million sperm. After one second, some are dead. After one minute, more are dead. After one hour, ever more are dead and so on and so on. The very last survivor might survive five days or more. Sperm in the vagina or the cervix probably won’t survive beyond two days. However, those that make it into the more friendly environment of the Fallopian tube can survive longer.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
So what happens if you have sex do not ejaculate into the women and 3-4 hours after you have intercourse again. is there a chance she can still get pregnant. if the male cleans up by wiping the penis with toilet paper?
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Question re: lifespan of sperm outside body. You had indicated that sperm outside the body lasts a “few hours”. How much would a few hours be?
Other sites have indicated that sperm contained in semen lasts as a long as it dries. Obviously, drying time would be dependent on volume. How long would it take sperm/semen to dry - say minimal volume approximately 1 ml in room temperature 22 degrees spread on clothing?