If you think your sex life is difficult to navigate, spare a thought for this woman who is allergic to semen.
Allison Tennyson has to deal with what could arguably be the biggest roadblock two people in a relationship could have to deal with - as getting intimate with her partner can leave her sobbing in pain.
The 34-year-old is effectively intolerant to her fella's orgasms, which as you can imagine, makes things extremely difficult to navigate in the bedroom.
Allison, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, has opened up about how her condition means that it 'hurts' to have sex and that any contact with semen leaves her experiencing an agonising burning-like sensation.
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On top of that, she fears that her unusual allergy may dash her dreams of becoming a mum someday.
She explained: "It hurts. My partner doesn’t want it. It’s not appealing to be hurting your partner during sex! We’re not intimate enough because of the allergies.
"I don’t want to burn, and he doesn’t want to make me cry - so it’s really hard! It’s a struggle… It’s hard to be intimate because it’s not comfortable and I can’t even use condoms."
Allison has a condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is part of a rare group of inherited conditions that affects connective tissues - and these are key for organs, bones, healthy skin, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels.
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She also suffers from a blood clotting disorder, while further testing revealed she suffered from some allergies too.
Out of 160 possible irritants, only a few came back positive, including nickel and penicillin.
It then emerged that Allison was one of the rare few people in the world who had a semen allergy too.
The proteins found in a man's sperm cause a burning-like sensation when it comes into contact with the sufferer, which is an experience the US-based woman first dealt with more than ten years ago.
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This unusual condition obviously makes Allison worry about the prospect of becoming pregnant, as any exposure to the component that her partner needs to bring to the table can leave her suffering from a myriad of painful symptoms.
She continued: "It’s really upsetting… I’ve cried about it quite a bit to be honest. It makes me upset as I didn’t even know that it [semen allergy] was a thing that could happen because I’d never heard about it before.
"I always want to have sex so we do it, but only in the early stages. Not experiencing the semen is just not the same and so limiting. I don't know how I can even have a baby.
"I don't even know how that would work - like would my body just reject semen completely? I have a blood clotting disorder as well, so pregnancy is really risky for me.
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"My partner and I have done our due diligence with my doctor to make sure I would survive pregnancy and all that."
She said her and her boyfriend go 'back and forth' about whether they want to become parents, but she said not having the option would be 'heartbreaking'.
"At least If I had the choice, it would make me feel better," Allison added. "I’m 34 now so I’m a little older but I still have time."
Topics: Health, Sex and Relationships, US News, News
Olivia Burke