It is commonly assumed that couples’ inability to conceive is due to a problem with a woman. In actual fact, the male factor contributes to roughly half of the infertility cases. Male infertility/sub-fertility is often due to the sperm production, getting it to reach the egg and fertilising it. For this reason semen analysis is one of the first investigations arranged.
Some of the issues with the sperm could include:
If the initial result of the semen analysis comes back abnormal the specialist may need to ask for a repeat test a month later. This is due to a large week-to-week and even day-to-day variation in sperm parameters. If the results come back abnormal again, further tests may be performed and may include:
In contrast to female infertility, most of the sperm conditions affecting the male are preventable or reversible.
"It takes around 74 days for sperm production before its released."
This means just 3 month of healthy lifestyle changes may help to improve semen’s count and quality and increase the odds of pregnancy.
In more severe cases of male infertility ICSI (Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection) is the procedure of choice. This type of IVF treatment involves the injection of a single sperm directly into a mature egg of a woman.
This procedure gives the ability to pick the best sperm, which results in fertilisation of the woman’s egg and forms an embryo. The embryo is then transferred into the woman’s uterus for implantation, which then results in subsequent pregnancy.
Male infertility has no obvious symptoms or signs, so most cases are undiagnosed until the semen analysis is performed. Since almost 50% of couples, unable to conceive naturally, have male factor infertilty, semen analysis should be done as a part of the intitial investigation.
Article from: www.fertilitypharmacy.com.au
