Lazar Greenfield, was the president-elect of the American College of Surgeons, the inventor of the Greenfield Filter, professor emeritus of surgery at the University of Michigan., an author of more than 360 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, 128 book chapters and two textbooks. He was also the lead editor of the Surgery News, the trade publication in which his writing initiated Semengate.
In the February issue, he penned some thoughts on Valentine’s Day. Dr. Greenfield noted the therapeutic effects of semen, citing research from the Archives of Sexual Behavior which found that female college students practicing unprotected sex were less likely to suffer from depression than those whose partners used condoms (as well as those who remained abstinent).
Presumably it was the closing line that caused the controversy: “So there’s a deeper bond between men and women than St. Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there’s a better gift for that day than chocolates.”
Of course the intent was science-humor. After all his comments came from peer reviewed papers. The idea that seminal fluid has hormones and pheromones is anything but strange. The authors of the paper cited by Dr. Greenfield point out that “only 5 percent of the ejaculate is sperm. What’s left is seminal plasma, which is a rich concoction of chemicals, including many that have the potential to produce mood-altering effects derived from hormones, neurotransmitters, and endorphins. There are even female sex hormones in male semen. Within a hour or two after insemination, you can detect heightened levels of many of these seminal chemicals in a woman’s bloodstream.”