question about sperm waiting in the crypts

[love being a mummy]

I was just thinking, if sperm are waiting in the crypts how do they know when to go for the egg?

[rainbowflower]

from what I've pieced together.... sperm only wait in the cervical crypts whilst the cervix is closed and whilst there is no fertile CM (EWCM) to help them get through the uterus. As soon as there is EWCM they are able to leave the cervix and they head for the tubes.

However, because the chances of conceiving from DTD before the fertile window are so low I'd assume that most don't make it out of the crypts.

If you DTD when you're already fertile, the sperm won't hang about in the cervix and will head straight on up to the fallopian tubes.

Most of the sperm will wait in the tubes for the egg to arrive - a documentary that often shows on TV over here called "The Great Sperm Race" described the fallopian tubes as "sperm heaven" because they get all the nutrients they need to sustain them there while they wait for the egg. That same show described the crypts as places where sperm get trapped by accident, and not as places where they are sustained in any way.

Once the egg is on the scene they "smell" it somehow, possibly to do with hormones, and then head towards it.

[love being a mummy]

Thanks

[ELP]

I think the egg gives out some kind of hormone which kind of re-fires the sperm up ready for the next part on their journey. Again I think? the hormone is meant to be similar to the substance found in the THC of marijuana which aparantly gets the sperm all fired up before they are needed, which would lower available sperm count leading to a higher pink conception rate. Not sure where I read about the thc but it kind of makes sense

[TTC5]

Yeah what the others said! The egg sends out chemical signals to the sperm which "pulls" them toward the egg

[atomic sagebrush]

The sperm are also attracted by heat and the egg is very warm (this is called "thermotaxis.). Currents of EWCM and little "fingers" lining your Fallopian tubes help to carry the sperm along to the egg, and the egg to the sperm. The sperm actually don't swim to the egg, they really just swim past obstacles like the junction between uterus and Fallopian tubes...it's really the currents of EWCM that carry them to the egg.

The chemical attractants that attract the sperm to the egg (this is called "chemotaxis") are different for every mammal, let alone animal, and so you always should keep that in the back of your mind when reading animal studies. The chemistry involved in attracting sea slug sperm to eggs is VASTLY different to that of humans and really cannot even be compared. Even humans and rats, mice, sows, cows, etc. all have slightly/drastically different chemical attractants for sperm and egg and so it may be that something that sways for mice, does not necessarily sway for humans.