How Is Sperm Made?
Producing sperm is the major function of the male reproductive system. The medical or scientific term for when your body makes sperm is spermatogenesis. The first step in spermatogenesis is for your body to make the necessary hormones. The three main hormones needed are:
- Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
- Luteinizing hormone (LH)
- Testosterone
- Both FSH and LH are made by your pituitary gland, located in the base of your brain. LH promotes testosterone production in the testicles, and FSH stimulates testicular growth and helps sperm mature.
- FSH, LH, and testosterone work together to help your body continuously produce sperm.
- Once your body has made enough hormones, sperm begin to develop within a system of tiny tubes called seminiferous tubules inside your testicles.
- Producing a mature sperm takes a little over 70 days from start to finish.
- The sperm’s tail is much longer than the head and is powered by mitochondria. The energy from the mitochondria in a sperm’s tail allows it to swim and move through the female reproductive tract, increasing its chance of fertilizing an egg.
The tails push the sperm into a tube behind the testes called the epididymis. For about five weeks, the sperm travel through the epididymis, completing their development. Once out of the epididymis, the sperm move to the vas deferens.
When a man is stimulated for sexual activity, the sperm are mixed with seminal fluid — a whitish liquid produced by the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland — to form semen.
During spermatogenesis, your testicles make several million sperm per day — about 1,500 per second. By the end of a full sperm production cycle, you can regenerate up to 8 billion sperm.
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