Woman allergic to husband's sperm.

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A new wife was given a nasty wedding night surprise when she discovered she was allergic to her husband's sperm.

Mike and Julie Boyde had been going out for two years when they got married and decided to have unprotected sex for the first time that evening.

But almost immediately the bride was in unbearable pain - and eventually they discovered it was because of Mike's sperm.

Now they have been forced to abandon their plans of conceiving a baby as it seems her own body destroys the sperm.

Mike, 27, and Julie, 26, from Ambridge, Pennsylvania, started going out while at university and became engaged two years later, finally having a dream wedding in 2005.

But following the reception, as they enjoyed their first night as a married couple, things went badly wrong.

'Before we were always very careful and used protection - this time we didn't,' said Julie, 26.

'We figured, "we're married, if we get pregnant, we get pregnant".'


But she added: 'Pretty much right after I knew something was not right because I was in a lot of pain.

'The pain that I was feeling was inside, like somebody sticking needles up inside of me like a real painful burning.

'It was really scary.'

The pain, and at times blisters, would go on for weeks, she said.

'On a scale of one to ten, it's pretty much ten,' she said, describing the pain.

After numerous tests and doctors visits, the couple were eventually told that Julie suffers from seminal plasma hypersensitivity.

Dr Andrew Goldstein said: 'The body recognizes the sperm as a foreign protein, like it would recognize a peanut allergen or a pollen so you have swelling, you have itching, you have inflammation of the nerve endings.'

It means that her body attacks Mike's sperm, making it inactive.

The discovery shattered their plans to conceive. But now, after a treatment failed, they have started adoption proceedings.

The couple are featured in a Discovery Health documentary called Strange Sex, airing in the U.S. this week.

Last Edited by JADR on 11/05/2009 08:24 AM