Indonesia official in hot water over ‘pool pregnancy’ claims

Jakarta, February 27

An Indonesian official is facing possible sanctions on Thursday after she warned women they could get pregnant by swimming in a pool where a man with “strong sperm” had ejaculated.

Sitti Hikmawatty, a child protection commission member, drew controversy and online ridicule after her unscientific comments to a major media outlet last week.

“In a swimming pool, there’s a certain kind of sperm that is very strong,” Hikmawatty told Tribunnews.com during a video interview about teen pregnancies.

“If a person is aroused and ejaculates (in the pool) a pregnancy can happen, even though there is no sexual penetration.”                   

Online, some men pledged to buy condoms before heading to the pool, while a picture of shark-shaped sperm closing in on a female swimmer—parodying a poster for the 1975 movie Jaws—went viral.

“Not all men are aroused when they’re swimming with women,” health influencer Blog Dokter told his 1.7 million Twitter followers in a rebuke to Hikmawatty’s comments.

“But even if a man was aroused and ejaculated in a pool the sperm would quickly die in chlorinated water.” While Hikmawatty quickly retracted her remarks, a three-member government commission has been assembled to decide if the former university professor will be sanctioned.

“This should serve as a lesson for all officials to be extra careful when they make public statements,” the newly formed commission’s chairman Susanto, who goes by one name, told AFP on Thursday. — AFP