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Want a baby, father has visable warts. Hpv dna exposure at conception question.

Dear Doctor,

My Husband and I are planning to get pregnant.
He has a few warts at the base of his penis that are the size of a raisin.  He has topical medicine for them, which has SLOWLY helped, but won't use it while we are trying to conceive.  

We want to get pregnant.  I went to get a pre-pregnancy check up 3 weeks ago. I requested to be tested for HPV.  The doctor said that I have no visible warts and that HPV was undetectable in my system.  That is after 5 or 6 years of unprotected sex with my Husband.

My concern is exposure to the Baby's genetics at the point of conception. There's info about HPV and birth out there, but not HPV and conception! There's also no info on effects of the father HPV and not the mother.

1.With the back a forth motion of the penis during intercourse and friction on the warts, can HPV DNA travel through the cervix with the sperm?

2.Is the baby at risk of the virus if the fathers HPV DNA is present with the sperm, inside the uterus and fallopian tubes where it's meeting with the egg and exchanging DNA and chromosomes?  (resulting in the baby's DNA having HPV in it)


3.How exactly is the sperm and egg protected again HPV-contamination?  

4.Once pregnant, is the baby protected during sex and how?
Thank you for your time!
Jody
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Avatar universal
I HAVE THE HPV VIRUS AND EVERYONE KEEPS TELLING ME THAT THE BABY CANT CONTRACT THE VIRUS FROM WITH IN BUT THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS I HAVE NOW A 3 YR OLD SON. I DIDNT NOTICE ANYTHING UNTIL HE TURNED ONE AND EVEN THEN HE ONLY HAD ONE SO I THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD BE JUST PAST THROW HIS SYSTEM AND GO AWAY. IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE I HAVE NOTICED THE FIRST ON THERE NOW ARE 4 OR 5. BEFORE YOU ASK MY SON WAS NEVER TOUCHED EVER. (SEXUALLY)
SO, I BELIEVE THAT IT CAN BE TRANSMITTED THROW A INFECTED MOTHER LIKE THE DOCTOR SAID THERE ARE NO TEST THAT SHOW IF THEY ARE IN YOUR SYSTEM SO HOW CAN HE STATE WITH FACT THAT THEY CANT BE. THERE ARE ALWAYS RISKS AND I ASKED MY DOCTOR IF IT WAS POSSIBLE TO TRANSMIT IT TO THE BABY WHEN I WAS PREGNATE AND HE TOLD ME THAT ONLY IN FEW CASES AND IF IT WAS THEY WOULD CONTRACT IT IN THE MOUTH. WELL, MY SON HAS THE VIRUS. AND NO ONE EVER TOLD ME THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN A POSSIBLITY OF CONTRACTING IT THROW DELIVERY OR CONCEPTION. THERE ARE NO FACTS THAT TELL YOU THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE AND THERE ARE NO FACTS TELL YOU THAT IT IS POSSIBLE.
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239123 tn?1267647614
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your questions are complex and my answers must be brief, perhaps inadequate.  The main thing is to see an obstetrician-gynecologist who is familar with STDs in general and genital warts in particular.

The treatments that would be used for your husband's warts need not be withheld because you are trying to conceive.  In particular, there definitely is no problem with liquid nitrogen, electrocautery, laser surgery, or just surgical removal.  So the main thing is for your husband to see a dermatologist skilled in these treatments and get is warts taken care of.

There is no test for HPV.  But if your husband has warts, you may well be infected with the same HPV type(s).  But asymptomatic HPV almost never is a problem for pregnancy.  There is no such thing as infecting the fetus before delivery; it just doesn't happen.  Once in a while a baby acquired HPV by being born through an infected mom's vagina, but even that is uncommon.  Babies never get infected prior to birth, as far as is known.  And there is definitely no evidence of HPV being transmitted to the embryo at the time of conception.  Don't let that worry you in the slightest.

To answer your specific questions:

1) I don't know for sure, but if it happens, the embryo doesn't get infected, as far as I know.

2) No.

3) I don't know.  But not all tissues are susceptible to HPV.  Perhaps the embryo is not.

4) Transmission of STDs (and other infections) to the embryo/fetus is prevented very effectively by a mucus plug that develops in the cervix; as well as physical blockage of the entrance to the uterus by the fetal membranes, and also by the mom's immune system.  Babies don't get STDs in the uterus, except rarely by blood-borne transmission (e.g., syphilis) or near delivery, after the membranes rupture.

I hope that helps.  Best wishes for successful conception and a happy family.  Your husband's warts aren't a big deal in this regard.

Good luck--  HHH, MD
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