Testosterone is the quintessential male hormone. It’s crucial for healthy sperm production, building muscle mass, maintaining bone density, and keeping your libido humming.
But here’s a quirky question: Can testosterone be transferred through sperm to a female partner or offspring? Could seminal fluid act as a delivery system, influencing a woman’s physiology or even shaping the development of a child?
Seminal fluid is a complex cocktail produced by various glands in the male reproductive system. Most of it comes from the seminal vesicles (65 to 75 percent), with the prostate gland contributing another 20 to 30 percent. This fluid carries sperm, but it also contains a host of other substances.
Two research articles shed some light on this topic. One looks at testosterone’s role in the function of the seminal vesicles and sperm motility. The other explores how testosterone in ejaculate can affect a female’s reproductive investment and the traits of her offspring, using red junglefowl as a model.
In this article, we’ll explore the existing evidence for testosterone transfer via sperm, considering both direct transfer of the hormone and indirect effects caused by other components in seminal fluid. We’ll examine whether the answer to “can testosterone be transferred through sperm” is a simple yes or no, or something more nuanced.
Read more