We’re pretty sure half the men who read this article will soon go around bragging about having “super sperm.” After all, who wouldn’t want their semen to be so powerful and evolved, they are actually… uh, infertile.
The Daily Mail explains the problem with this new, awesome jizz:
Evolutionary biologist Oren Hasson believes they race past the defences thrown up by a woman’s body so effectively that more than one sperm penetrates the egg.
This process, known as polyspermy, ruins the egg – and the chances of fertilisation.
In Britain, around one in six couples has trouble conceiving naturally and almost 35,000 women a year resort to IVF.
Dr Hasson believes stressful lifestyles, infection and pollution alone cannot explain the high levels of infertility.
His research suggests they result from an ‘evolutionary arms race’ in which male and female bodies undergo subtle changes to improve fertility.
If both make improvements at the same time, fertility will benefit. But if the two are out of step, trouble ensues.
As one Jezebel commenter pointed out, this may just be another excuse used by men to avoid having to wear a condom. Of course, we don’t condone that kind of behavior. However, if you’re in a monogamous relationship, use some other form of birth control, and are somehow diagnosed with Superman sperm, maybe you’re okay.