The thing is, I’m officially the king of the coitus interruptus. Some dudes can play the violin, others can throw a great fastball - me, I have jedi-like control over ejaculation. In fact, if I ever have problems in that area, it’s usually that it takes me bloody ages and a lot of work to ejaculate at all. Heck, I don’t really have any other talents, so I’m thinking that might as well make the most of this one. I am, however, suspecting that it’s not all that useful, unless I should decide to go for a career in porn, which I’m not inclined to do…
What I’m wondering is basically: should I trust this at all as a method for avoiding accidental pregnancy (never mind STDs in this discussion - let’s assume that that’s not an issue)? And no, I didn’t time-warp here from the middle ages, I know perfectly well that the “official” stance is that it’s pretty much useless and shouldn’t be trusted for a second, and that the medical term for dudes putting their money on this method is “daddy”. What I have always heard is that the pre-ejaculate fluid, which my mojo sadly does not cover, may also contain spermatozoa. However, according to this article on Wikipedia , “modern research has shown that in fact there are no viable sperm in the fluid, and the primary cause of failure of this method of contraception is the lack of self-control of those using it.” Self-control, as I’ve stated, is no problem whatsoever for me.
Not that I’m actually planning on booting out all the wonders of modern birth control just yet, nor do I really have a reason to do so. I’m just wondering what the straight dope is on this. If I do choose to gamble (and come across some crazy female willing to play along), what are my odds?
I think the OP (“Peak Banana”? That’s gotta be relevant somehow) knows this—he wants to know whether all of those parents achieved parenthood through neglecting to interrupt their coitus in time.
One thing to remember about coitus interruptus is that before you come, a gland at the base of the penis releases a pre-ejaculate fluid that lubricates the urethra. This fluid often contains sperm.
It’s Russian Roulette, man. At least one of my kids was conceived due to failed CI.
I never tried voluntary CI. All of mine were involuntary, caused by children bursting in demanding attention at inopportune moments. And there was the time we forgot to put the yellow lab out in the evening and she wanted to join the fun. I think I exercised self control that rivals Peak Banana’s, in that the children are still around (they’re grown men now) and the dog lived to a ripe old age.
Somehow, the concept of rolling down the road at 75 and suddenly trying to double-clutch and jam the Fuller from 15th gear into R never made sense to me. Guess that’s why I’m a Daddy.
Also, I’ll welcome any anecdotal evidence from anyone who has had a documented screw-up with properly executed CI - that is, having positively made someone pregnant without any actual ejaculation going on at any point. OneCentStamp - is this the case with you, and is that what you mean by “failed CI”? If so, I’ll give up my crazy ideas right away.
The Wikipedia article referred to two studies, neither of which reported on the number of individuals involved, but the abstract stated that a larger study is needed to verify the results. Consequently, I wouldn’t take the conclusion as gospel. It’s certainly intriguiging, but anecdotal reports, such as the one above, carries a lot of weight, too. Maybe more. One theorist telling you that it can’t be done sounds a lot like pissing in the wind when compared to a crying baby in a crib who happened to show up one night 9 months after dad pulled out a tiny bit too late, although he didn’t know it at the time.
I had this argument with a friend of mine. She and her BF are using this as their birth control method. I told her she was throwing the dice on getting pregnant, but she swears that coitus interruptus will only lead to pregnancy if the guy fails to pull out. She went so far as to say that the idea that pulling out is not effective is a myth propagated by health teachers to scare kids (and they should be scared of unprotected sex, IMO, but lying to kids isn’t OK either). I’d love to know if this is true.
My friends first kid came about by means of some creative, yet ineffective birth control methods. He would have unprotected sex with his soon to be wife up to the point where he knew things weren’t going to last too long, would then apply a condom, and see the job through to the end. According to him, the only fluid that could have “reached home plate” was from the pre-come lubrication.
This isn’t exactly CI, but it comes close. Pun intended.
I tried that at my ex’s blood lab while she was working one night. Nice smeared plate of pre-cum. Nothing.
My friends here used this method for 5 years and it worked great. Then they wanted a baby and he stayed the course, as it were, and she got pregnant within a month.
I think there has to be some individualness to this equation, too. I question if it would work for me because sometimes I ride the edge-of-orgasm for a long time (count me an Obi Cum Kenobi too), and I have noticed a quick spurt long before the other spurts (like 20 seconds before) without actually feeling the contractions. It has happened quite a few times that my partner has said “Is that all?” and stop giving my guy attention, only to have me scream “Don’t stop!” and have the finale arrive.
Add this to the other reports of it working and not working seems to lead to a logical conclusion that should not be too hard to believe: it works for some people.
The tricky part is finding out if you are or are not part of that group.
There’s actually a test to see if you’re a member of that group: Go to Vegas on a one-way plane ticket and with a thousand dollars; if take the plane back home, you’re a member. If you take a bus, you’re not.
The anecdotal evidence isn’t something you should rely on. Having sex with no birth control at all gives you a 75% chance of getting pregnant in the course of a year. Which means, of course, 25% of people who have sex regularly for a year with no birth control dodge the bullet.
