Father Does Cocaine//offspring Has Defect?
Question by What-A-Secret: Father does cocaine//offspring has defect?
My child development teacher told me that if the dad does cocaine, it like sticks to his sperm (or somethin like that) and when he has a baby is can cause it to have a birth defect. I was wondering if you have to do the coke near the time of conception OR if it can be from way back and still stay to the sperm? Also, are there any other drugs that work like cocaine works in this situation?
Don’t worry, I’m just a curious kid. I’m not anywhere near this situation myself.
Best answer:
Answer by Diet C
It would be near the time of conception.
Cocaine doesn’t “stick” to the sperm and alter it’s DNA, so usage 4 months ago isn’t going to matter.
When ejaculating, cocaine would be excreted along with the sperm if “daddy” was high.
Here’s a study they did on it:http://www.jatox.com/abstracts/1996/mar-apr/139-cone.htm
Answer by jjc927
Any kind of drug will have an affect in pregnancy. The best idea is to not do any at all.
It has to be near the time of conception.
An experiment using human semen has found that cocaine may attach itself to the sperm of men who use the drug, entering an egg at the moment of conception and damaging the fetus.
If the effect is proven true, cocaine-using fathers may have to share more of the responsibility with cocaine-using mothers for birth defects in children. Other toxins such as lead and mercury to which fathers are exposed could also be hitchhiking on sperm in the same fashion, affecting the fetus even before organ development begins.The study said researchers have clearly demonstrated the binding of cocaine to human spermatozoa binding was optimal after 20 minutes of incubation, with a decline following longer incubation periods
The concentrations of cocaine used in the study “may be easily achieved in serum with doses of cocaine commonly used by human addicts,” the study added.
The study said it was also possible that sperm could pick up the drug in the reproductive tract of a cocaine-using woman after intercourse, opening the way for damage to the fetus by that route.