THE BARREN MAN – SPERMATOZA
The secretions, which make up so much of the semen volume, are important because they provide nourishment and energy for the millions of spermatozoa and permit the sperm to exercise their tails.
Looked at under a microscope, spermatozoa are seen to be complex. Each sperm has a head, a middle piece, and a tail. The head of the sperm is shaped like the head of a snake. The head carries all the genetic material to form a new human if it combines with the genetic material in the ovum. Covering the front of the head is a thickened cap. Behind the head is a cylindrical body or midpiece which contains the ‘engine’ of the sperm. The energy which is needed to enable the tail of the sperm to propel it through the uterus is produced here. The tail of the sperm is three times as long as the head and body. It propels the sperm by a thrashing, twisting movement.
Scattered all over the surface of the head and midpiece of the sperm are small spots which, as it were, ‘squirt out’ substances, called antigens. If enough of the substances are extruded, when the spermatozoa have been ejaculated in a woman’s vagina, some may enter her tissues and then her blood. If she is especially sensitive to the antigens, special cells ‘recognize’ the antigen as ‘foreign’ and rush to surround it and cover it, so that it is no longer recognized. If they fail to do this, the woman’s body produces substances called antibodies which combine with the antigen and make it innocuous. But her body is then sensitized to the sperm antigen and the cells which line her cervix may start secreting the antibodies. They then seek and cover the antigen-secreting spots on the sperm. If this happens they may make the spermatozoa stick together, or stop their tails thrashing so that they are unable to make the journey through the uterus and fertilize the egg.
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