It must be quite a shock for a woman who jumps into bed with her boyfriend, looking forward to a night of pleasure and passion, only to find she has an unexpected problem - she's allergic to sperm*.Apparently up to 10,000 British women have the allergy. Any contact with the stuff and their body rebels - itching, stinging, swelling, blistering, hives and breathing difficulties are the possible effects. Not quite what they had in mind.
Julie Boyde of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, only discovered the problem on her wedding night. Previously she and husband Mike had used condoms so she was unaware there was anything wrong. Then suddenly the pleasure disappeared.
Doctors tried to cure the allergy with a special serum but it made no difference. As the couple want to have children, and she objects to IVF, now the only thing they can do is adopt. A big disappointment for both of them, I'm sure.
It must rather spoil your sex life if you have to tell every new boyfriend that you're ahem, allergic to you-know-what. Guys who're proud of their masculine virility must find it a bit of a let-down that certain options are strictly out of bounds and tamer substitutes are required.
I wonder if some guys can't quite believe what they're hearing and think it's just another female excuse like having a headache or time-of-the-month. Or if they even find it insulting - "What do you mean I'll bring you out in a rash? Nobody else has ever complained...."
It must be a tricky situation to handle. I suppose the best course is to find a man who understands and then stick with him. Or become a lesbian....
* The medical term is Seminal Plasma Hypersensitivity
How awful, poor couple. Never heard of this one!
ReplyDeleteNeither had I, not in 62 years. It's obviously something people don't like to talk about.
ReplyDeleteEwwww, so glad I am not allergic! ;)
ReplyDeleteSuburbia - I'll bet. A very embarrassing thing to have to deal with.
ReplyDeleteSorry but I had to smile. Where do you get this stuff? Empathy for the sufferers . . .what man would believe you! I guess if you were the religious type perhaps get the to a nunnery and pursue the celibate life.
ReplyDeleteBaino - Of course, become a nun, I hadn't thought of that possibility. A bit of a drastic solution though.
ReplyDeleteNow that just sounds like an impossibility to me. I mean, what the heck??
ReplyDeleteI had in fact heard of this. All I have to say is EEEEEKK! That really would suck. I suppose the real issue is pregnancy, though--not a problem to use condoms after all. I wonder why the woman in the article objected to IVF?
ReplyDeletethat's one bizarre allergy. I'm not sure i'd volunteer to have a newspaper article written about me either..
ReplyDeleteMegan - Not impossible at all. A fully documented and medically recognised condition. But as I say, it looks like most women affected don't want to reveal it. Or their boyfriends for that matter.
ReplyDeleteLeah - I can't find the original reference to IVF now, but I think she had religious objections. True, she could carry on using condoms, provided they're 100% reliable....
Quicky - I'm not sure I would either. Can you imagine all the sniggers and cheap jokes?
No fun if you suffer from it, but thankfully I did not!
ReplyDeleteWow, poor lady (and the guy too, I suppose!) I'm really, really glad I don't have this allergy.
ReplyDeleteActually one condition I had heard of. Only because we just studied it in Med Terminology. Doesn't sound like much fun for anyone.
ReplyDeleteNick, I admire you for locating this totally unheard-of-till-now phenomenon. And only you can write this post the way it has been written. I salute you.
ReplyDeleteGrannymar - Glad to hear that. Your toyboys will be very pleased!
ReplyDeleteLiz - I bet you are. Can you imagine the emotional turmoil when a woman finds out for the first time?
Brighid - No fun at all. Unless you're a gay woman, in which case you might never find out.
Ramana - Thank you. I actually stumbled on this quite by chance while I was researching something else. As one does.
Wow, poor dears...I thought latex allergy was bad enough...
ReplyDeletee - I think latex allergy might be worse. It rules out a lot of medical and industrial jobs and makes you sensitive to everyday items like condoms (!), balloons, rubber bands, nappies and bandages. Or so Google and Wiki inform me....
ReplyDeletenot tonight, dear, i've got SPH
ReplyDeleteKylie - Nice try. But then what if it's miraculously cleared up by the night after?
ReplyDeleteit wouldnt be any more or less surprising than the 3 week period
ReplyDeleteKylie - Oh, some women bleed really heavily, you know. REALLY heavily.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of this allergy but didn't know it was so widespread, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI am allergic to many things but apparently not that because I have three children. I suppose that unfortunate woman is lucky that she is not also allergic to latex, which is a far more common problem.
Heart - It's clearly a serious problem if you want children. I guess most parents would see adoption as very much second best.
ReplyDelete