[chris (OP)]

Interesting question called in to the radio show today by a listener who wanted to know:

"When a man ejaculates inside a woman, does her testosterone level rise?"

Does anyone know?

[alancalverd]

I can't imagine why, nor can I think of anyone better able to find out the answer!

Method: take two naked scientists.....

Who said physiological research was no fun?

[evan_au]

The ratio of unconjugated to conjugated steroid in semen was found to be approximately 1:10. Levels of unconjgated Testosterone were similar to those found in plasma of normally menstruating women.

Given that normal ejaculate is around 5ml, while an adult woman has a volume of around 60,000ml, it wouldn't make a measurable difference, even if it were all absorbed.

However, sperm can swim, and testosterone can't, so I suspect that not much of the testosterone would be absorbed (or many of the sperm, either).

See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1030919

[Colin2B]

Method: take two naked scientists.....

Who said physiological research was no fun?

I have seen documentary of couples who volunteer to go into an mri scanner for sex, apparently they have to take a deep breath and stop moving for the scan, unless tech has since improved for motion. I understand some motion artifacts can be removed by image processing, but slow movement is probably best 

[smart]

"When a man ejaculates inside a woman, does her testosterone level rise?"

I asked my mom (who is a nurse) about this question and she said there's absolutely no way absorbing sperm can boost testosterone levels in the female.

[alancalverd]

I have seen documentary of couples who volunteer to go into an mri scanner for sex, apparently they have to take a deep breath and stop moving for the scan, unless tech has since improved for motion. I understand some motion artifacts can be removed by image processing, but slow movement is probably best 

The early work in this area warranted an IgNobel Prize. You can use echoplanar imaging to freeze motion, but the imafge quality is generally poor. Gated acquisition can be used to capture high quality images of repetitive motion: we have some excellent movies of an athlete's heart valve performance when running on a treadmill in an upright MRI. But AFAIK there is no MRI or x-ray process for measuring testosterone.

I would hope the underlying assertion of this thread is false. The longterm effects of raised testosterone are to remove hair from the scalp and replace it on the chin and chest - not the conventional interpretation of feminine beauty.

[Bored chemist]

There will be traces of testosterone in a burger.
Is it sensible to say that eating a burger increases a woman's testosterone level?

[syhprum]

I saw a porno film where this happened accidentally and the woman was enraged maybe this was due to absorbed  testosterone

[Bored chemist]

I saw a porno film where this happened accidentally and the woman was enraged maybe this was due to absorbed  testosterone

The intersection of porn and factual reporting is rater small.

[chris (OP)]

I saw a porno film where this happened accidentally and the woman was enraged maybe this was due to absorbed  testosterone

The intersection of porn and factual reporting is rater small.

I don't know: porn isn't generally known for its strong "plot"!

[wolfekeeper]

Well, testosterone is a hormone, which means it has a significant effect even when present in very small amounts.

Apparently the concentration of testosterone in semen is around 70ng/ml, whereas the testosterone in females is normally 70ng/dl. Average ejaculate is about 5ml, so there could be a slight boost, but it wouldn't be massive, and levels reached would be nowhere near male levels; no chance of male pattern baldness I think, under realistic scenarios.

As to absorption, I believe testosterone can be absorbed well orally, the other routes would also potentially work, but often it mostly doesn't stay in long enough.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1030919
https://www.healthline.com/health/low-testosterone/testosterone-levels-by-age#adolescence

[Spam4 100123]

High testosterone in females is usually caused by an underlying medical condition, such as:

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
CAH is the term given to a group of inherited disorders that affect the adrenal glands. These glands secrete the hormones cortisol and aldosterone, which play a role in managing metabolism

[ArthurArts]

Ok, but can the ejaculation cause CAH?