Sperm is the male reproductive cell or gamete, which carry half the genetic material for a person’s offspring. The egg carries the other half; when combined, during fertilization, they make a unique genetic sequence. Sperm cells are produced in the seminiferous tubules of the testes in a process known as spermatogenesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sperm are reproductive cells produced by the biological male humans and animals. Sperm contain half of the genetic material (DNA) for the future baby. Sperm combines with an egg in a process called fertilization<\/a> which can result in pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each milliliter of semen<\/a> contains, on average, around 80 million<\/a> sperm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A sperm\u2019s anatomy includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sperm is made in the seminiferous tubules<\/a> in the testicles<\/a>. This process, called spermatogenesis, next moves the sperm through the epididymis<\/a>, where sperm mature and gain motility<\/a>. Finally, sperm are stored in the tail of the epididymis until they\u2019re ejaculated from the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The whole process of spermatogenesis takes around 64\u201372 days<\/a>, but sperm are being produced constantly. Over 100 million<\/a> sperm can be produced each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sperm are key for fertility since they contain the genetic material that, when combined with the DNA in an egg, becomes a baby. To conceive a child, it\u2019s helpful to have healthy sperm<\/a>. This involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if sperm show abnormalities, they may still be capable of fertilizing an egg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sperm cells were discovered in 1677<\/a>, followed by more detailed observations of the male reproductive system in the 1800s. The egg was discovered in 1827<\/a>, helping further the understanding of fertilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the 1930s<\/a>, semen analysis<\/a> was used to assess infertility<\/a>. Cryopreservation<\/a> and successful pregnancies using frozen sperm occurred over the next few decades. In 1980, the World Health Organization first published a range of normal values for semen, providing a reference for evaluating sperm health and fertility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"glossary","glossary-cat":[],"class_list":["post-9378","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/9378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/9378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17249,"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/9378\/revisions\/17249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"glossary-cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.givelegacy.com\/vnext\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fglossary-cat&post=9378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
How sperm is produced<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sperm and fertility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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History of sperm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n