JULIE Boyde's wedding night was ruined when she discovered she was allergic to her husband Mike's sperm.

The couple had been lovers for two years before they got married and decided to have unprotected sex for the first time on their wedding night.



Almost immediately the bride was in unbearable pain. She found out it was because of Mike's sperm.



Plans of conceiving a baby have had to be abandoned reluctantly as it seems Julie's own body destroys the sperm.



Mike, 27, and Julie, 26, from Ambridge, Pennsylvania, started going out while at university and became engaged two years later, finally having a dream wedding in 2005. They wanted to consummate their union on their wedding night.



"Before we were always very careful and used protection - this time we didn't,' said Julie, 26.



"We figured, "we're married, if we get pregnant, we get pregnant".



"Pretty much right after I knew something was not right because I was in a lot of pain.



"The pain that I was feeling was inside, like somebody sticking needles up inside of me like a real painful burning.



"It was really scary."



The pain, and at times blisters, would go on for weeks, she said.



"On a scale of one to ten, it's pretty much ten," she said, describing the pain.



After numerous medical tests, the couple were eventually told that Julie suffers from seminal plasma hypersensitivity, which affects thousands of women in Australia.



"It can be systemic and present anaphylaxis where individuals have not just localised discomfort. They actually can have hives, soft tissue swelling … and, in the severe situations … they can ... potentially die." said immunologist Jonathan Bernstein, of Cincinnati Medical Centre University.



In short, Julie's body attacks Mike's sperm and makes it inactive.



The couple have started adoption proceedings to start their family.



The couple are featured in a documentary, Strange Sex, on the ABC in the US.









