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Obstacles To Fertilization.
A number of problems can prevent fertilization from taking place, and many of these can indeed originate with the male. The major cause of male infertility is an inability to produce enough healthy sperm.
For example, your sperm must be present in sufficient volume, it must be active, it must not be clumping together, it must be relatively normal in shape and size, and it must not be adversely affected by sperm antibodies either in the man or in the woman. Further, it must be able to penetrate the barrier of the woman's cervical mucus and overcome staggering odds to ever even reach the fallopian tubes and go on to meet the egg.
When the couple can't conceive despite repeated attempts, your doctor may recommend a semen analysis to assess male factors which might be preventing fertilization. Your sperm will be put under the microscope, literally and figuratively.
Delivering The Specimen.
You will be asked to provide a semen sample by masturbating into a clean, large-mouth, glass jar or plastic specimen cup, or by ejaculating into a special condom without spermicide during intercourse with your partner. The important thing is to keep the sample warm (men are often asked to carry the container under their armpits), and get the sample to the laboratory for analysis quickly. Most fertility experts want your semen within an hour, preferably sooner.
What Is Semen Made Of?
As mentioned previously, the average, healthy man will have anywhere from 120 million to 600 million sperm in a single ejaculation. Besides sperm, semen contains water; simple sugars (to provide fuel for sperm); alkalies (to protect sperm against the acidity of the male urethra and the vagina); prostaglandins (substances that cause contractions of the uterus and fallopian tubes, and are thought to aid in the sperm's passage to the womb); vitamin C; zinc; cholesterol; and a few other things.
While semen can transmit a variety of diseases, including the AIDS virus, healthy semen doesn't contain anything that's harmful or bad for the health.
What Does A Semen Analysis Analyze?
The complete semen analysis includes:
- Volume of the semen
- Sperm count (the amount of sperm in a certain volume of semen, also known as the sperm concentration or sperm density)
- Sperm size and shape (morphology)
- Sperm motility (percentage of actively moving sperm)
- New, computer-assisted sperm analysis may help assess sperm motility more accurately. Using a computer in combination with the microscope, a technician can assess how rapidly sperm move and how straight they swim.
Other factors that infertility specialists look at include the quality of the seminal fluid in which sperm swim, and the sperm's ability to survive in and move through cervical mucus, as well as its ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg.
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