It’s all a matter of sex. We love it. But do we only have it for pleasure? The continuation of our genetic pattern is another factor. According to “Why Evolution Is True” (Viking, 2009), by Jerry Coyne, it was a Russian woman who gave birth to the most children ever – 69, which she had over the course of 27 pregnancies that included sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. And that was back in the 18^th century when there was still no medicine to ease the pain during labor.

The male record-holder for most kids goes to a Moroccan emperor who sired “at least 342 daughters and 525 sons, and by 1721, was reputed to have 700 male descendants,” says the Guinness Book of World Records.

What role do genes play when it comes to having sex for the first time? Inherited traits, such as impulsivity, can make a person more or less willing to have sex at an earlier age. The average male loses his virginity at age 16.9; females average slightly older, at 17.4, reported the Kinsey Institute, California State University.

High school sweethearts may last forever but what happens when they don’t? At Wayne State University and Michigan State University students have decided to try the alternative. Two-thirds of them have been in a “friends with benefits” relationship, citing the lack of commitment required as the main advantage to such an arrangement. More than half of those who had sex with a friend said they had engaged in all forms of sex; 22.7 percent said they had intercourse only, while 8 percent said they did everything but have intercourse. What they didn’t say was the number of partners they were with.

By the way, what’s your number? According to a survey done by the National Center for Health Statistics, in which adults aged 20 to 59 participated, women have an average of four sexual partners during their lifetime; men have an average of seven. Do you think that’s a lot? Not enough?

The National Health and Social Life Survey is the source of the following data: while 75 percent of men always reach orgasm during sex, only 29 percent of women report the same! Also, most women said they were unable to climax through vaginal intercourse, they insisted in needing clitoral stimulation.

The fact that 25 percent of men and almost 70 percent of women can’t reach orgasm is worrying. That might be why the sofa makers are getting so happy. After such frustration, about one out of 10 married adults – 12 percent – say that they typically sleep alone on the sofa. Not nice but that is what National Sleep Foundation has discovered.

To finish, good news comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: HPV, or human papillomavirus, comes in both low- and high-risk forms; low-risk HPV can cause genital warts, and high-risk can cause cervical and other cancers. In 90 percent of cases, the body’s immune system will fight off the disease within two years!