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Am I allergic to my husband’s sperm?
What you need to know:
- A graded intravaginal seminal, where every 20 minutes a doctor places increasing amounts of the partner’s semen in the woman’s genitals can help out.
- Frequent sex (at least two or three times a week) may also help out and in case of a partner’s absence, frozen (stored) semen may be introduced instead.
I have been told I have a sperm allergy and advised to divorce my husband since we cannot have children. What can I do?
Sarah
Dear Sarah,
Though it is called sperm allergy, women or men may react to proteins in the semen. Semen allergy can lead to redness, burning and swelling of the female genitalia. In severe cases, itching of the body and difficulty breathing can also happen, putting one’s life in danger.
While some women develop semen allergy on the initial sexual encounter, others develop the reactions much later but usually the reactions worsen with more sexual encounters.
Semen allergy requires proper diagnosis because infections and chemical irritants may also mimic semen allergy. When properly diagnosed, semen allergy may require use of condoms or not ejaculating in the woman, both of which may hinder reproduction. However, since the reaction is due to protein in the semen, changing a man is unlikely to help.
A graded intravaginal seminal, where every 20 minutes a doctor places increasing amounts of the partner’s semen in the woman’s genitals can help out. Frequent sex (at least two or three times a week) may also help out and in case of a partner’s absence, frozen (stored) semen may be introduced instead.
This, however, requires a doctor’s supervision because one can easily develop life-threatening reactions. In case of failure or a woman preferring to use condoms, for reproduction purposes sperms can be washed of the semen and introduced vaginally to effect reproduction.
