Have YOU had a 'sleep orgasm'? 37% of women have climaxed while dreaming, while only half regularly do during marital sex

Many people find themselves having sexual fantasies during sleep.

But a new study reveals some people actually climax during rest.

While it is well known that men going through puberty can ejaculate at night - a phenomenon known as 'wet dreams' - new research shows it happens to women, too.

US researchers found 37 per cent of women have experienced a 'sleep orgasm' by the age of 45.

In fact, the average woman had 'nocturnal orgasms' fairly constantly from adolescence until their 50s, whether they were single or married, a report by the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction found.

Some 37 per cent of women have experienced a 'sleep orgasm' by the age of 45, a study has found (file photo)

One woman told Broadly she experiences sleep orgasms when she is going through a 'sex drought' and describes them like a 'present from your brain'.

Jade, 24, said she climaxes during rest a couple of times a week, sometimes using her hands in her sleep, at other times it occurs without them.

'I'm not getting a lot of action, I sometimes even got so bored of not having sex that I lose interest in masturbating, and my brain reminds me that yep, I can still orgasm,' she told Broadly.

Comparably, 83 per cent of men reported 'nocturnal emissions', with or without dreams, the report found.

In their late teens, 70 per cent of men had wet dreams, while the frequency declined by the time they were in their 30s.

The report collected data based on interviews with 11,000 people about their sexuality, sex life and orgasm.

It found 70 per cent of females experience overtly sexual dreams over their lifetime, compared to 100 per cent of men.

And 5 per cent of women had their first orgasm through dreaming at night, while more than 13 per cent of men said their first ejaculation occurred during sleep.

Dr Debby Herbenick, associate professor at Indiana University and a researcher at the Kinsey Institute, told Broadly that women's orgasms are psychological.

Nearly half of women regularly had an orgasm in their married sex life, but a tenth said they were yet to climax.

A number of factors often hold women back from having orgasms during sex, including an uncaring or selfish partner, lack of information about how to reach climax and concerns over how their body looks (file photo)

Dr Herbenick added a number of factors often hold women back from having orgasms during sex, including an uncaring or selfish partner, lack of information about how to reach climax and concerns over body image.

Due to the psychological nature of female orgasms, sleep orgasms cannot be achieved simply by masturbating, she said.

They tend to improve as women become older and more confident and secure.

Dr Herbenick said:'Orgasm generally gets easier with age and experience, and when women have sex with regular partners who they feel care about them.

'Thus we see higher rates of orgasm among those in their mid to late 20s, 30s, and 40s.' 

Other experts say the key to achieving an orgasm while sleeping is by fantasising.

The Orgasm Answer Guide states: 'There is good reason to believe that orgasms while sleeping are not, in fact, the result of genital stimulation, but instead are created in the brain.'

Other ways to increase the chance of having a sleep orgasm include sleeping on the stomach, and being particularly tired at bedtime, it states.