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Uncovering the Truth of the Elusive Multiple Orgasm

A new study shows nearly half of all women experience multiple orgasms, but researchers believe the potential number may be even higher. We spoke with people who cum a lot to unpack this mysterious phenomenon.
Photo by Good Vibrations Images via Stocksy

This euphoria of the fabled multiple orgasm eludes many, but there are some hoping to change that. OMGYes, an online women's sexuality training program, explored this phenomenon in their recently released annual Study of Women's Sexual Pleasure.

According to Angela Giovanello, the Public Relations representative for OMGYes, it's important to educate women on their sexual potential because it leads to other positive impacts in their personal lives. "The study shows that women who stay curious and are always exploring ways to make sex more pleasurable are 5 times more likely to be happier in their relationship and 12 times as likely to be sexually satisfied," Giovanello explains in an interview with Broadly.

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"Women's sexual pleasure has hidden in the shadows for too long," the OMGYes website reads. "It's time to get it all out in the open." Results of their female-centric study show that 47 percent of respondents experience multiple orgasms. This data is meaningful to those of us looking for more in bed than one measly, pathetic moment of bliss. OMGYes argues that over time, life experience has taught women how to realize their sexuality in various ways. "We joke that, in a very real sense, your grandma has better orgasms than you do," Giovanello says, adding that "there isn't a 'trick' - it's about exploring ways to adjust the techniques and ways of touching that led to the first orgasm - and having an open mind."

While OMGYes wants to teach, there are may people today who don't need to be taught how to come more than once. Sam was assigned female at birth but now uses gender neutral pronouns and identifies as non-binary. "This is going to sound a little weird but when I was younger, I used to hump pillows," Sam says. "I would have what I now understand was an orgasm, but it was completely non-sexual in my mind, it just felt good." As an adult, their ability to orgasm multiple times during one sex act is complex, divided between the g-spot and clitoris. "I can also have g-spot orgasms but only after I've already orgasmed clitorally. I've also orgasmed in my sleep."

Immediate succession clitoral orgasms are honestly mostly tiring.

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"I can orgasm in immediate succession but only clitorally," Sam explains, adding that isn't necessarily as great as it's made out to be. "Immediate succession clitoral orgasms are honestly mostly tiring." Though they're very intense, Sam says it's easy to emotionally check out after the first.

Their experience raises the question of what constitutes a true, textbook multiple orgasm. Is the "multiple orgasm" exclusively defined as immediate and successive, or do multiple orgasms that are spread throughout the course of a sex act also qualify? Sam says that the latter counts, and that cisgender men can experience several orgasms during intercourse, too.

Sam says that they, personally, have experienced sex with a man capable of multiple orgasms. "I met him down the shore," Sam says, adding that the two had immediate physical chemistry. "We literally met while he was working, and within ten minutes we were in the back of the shop." What followed was a series of sexual encounters in which this man came came again and again, to Sam's shock and enjoyment. "He would fuck for like fifteen minutes, cum, take a few breath or a sip of water, and fuck again." Though there was always a stretch of fucking in-between orgasms, Sam believes that their gentleman caller could have cum on demand if he wanted to.

According to Men's Health, women are built to orgasm more than once, but men "have a pesky refractory period to deal with—which lasts 30 minutes or more on average. It's virtually impossible for men to have multiple ejaculatory orgasms with no refractory period." Sam's experience with their lover somewhat aligns with this statement: He always took a break to breathe deeply or sip some water. However, it's worth noting that breathing deep and sipping water doesn't take half an hour.

Filtering the myth from the reality is challenging with something as private as sex. Our experiences with our bodies are blanketed by social stigmas and cultural taboos, often shared only with those we choose to bed. OMGYes is aiming to educate women who are unaware of their own potential. From personal, clitoral, and g-spot orgasms, to the repetitious fucking of hulking gods, the hidden power of our sex lives is still illuminating. Remembering that summer, Sam describes it as a sexual awakening. Sam knew that coming more than once was easy enough to do, but when their lover did too, it was a surprise. "At the time, I was so confused because I didn't realize it was possible," they said.