EMISSION OF SPERMATOZOA - AGE OF ONSET

The determination of the age at which the first release of spermatoza takes place in boys – spermarche, has been hampered by social and ethical considerations. Based on observation by Baldwin (1928) that spermatozoa can be detected in urine specimen after emission of spermatozoa, we conducted a cross sectional study on 429 Israeli school boys aged 11–16, in order to estimate the age of spermarche. Based on the collection of at least three consecutive urine samples from most of the boys, the median age of spermarche was estimated to be 14.5. These findings confirm previous assumption based on retrospective questionnaires and correlate well with histological findings at the age of onset spermatogenesis. Among the boys with spermaturia the frequency of positive findings was one out of the two days in the age group of 12 years while it was one out of three days in the 15–16 year old older boys, with an intermediate frequency in the 13 years old. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved