The Male Fertility Test – Do They Sink or Swim?
Gone are the days when only the woman is thought to be the reason no baby is on the way. Male fertility, and consequently, the male fertility test, is now known to be very important.
Luckily for your man, testing for him is straightforward and non-invasive. In fact, there are even in-home testing options.
The Basics of the Male Fertility Test
The hallmark of testing your man's fertility is the semen analysis. This is a detailed look at just how healthy his sperm are. The parts of the test are:
Sperm count: Men need tons of sperm. Just one sperm fertilizes the egg – but a lot of sperm are needed to help that one fertilize the egg. They swim towards the egg as a group (though a lot swim the wrong way!) then all sperm help to break through the egg's outer coating.
20 million+ sperm per milliliter of semen is what a man needs.
Sperm Motility: measures how well sperm move forward towards their goal. Their ability to swim forward is ranked from 1-4 – 4 is ideal.
Sperm Morphology: this test determines if the sperm are “normal” or not. Sperm have to be formed perfectly because abnormal sperm can't fertilize an egg.
Other Aspects: The amount of semen (volume) is analyzed, along with fructose level and pH.
Liquifaction is a measure of how quickly the semen takes to turn liquid. It needs to go from thick to more watery so the sperm can swim toward the egg.
Your Options
Semen analysis is pretty routine and you can probably request that your doctor put in an order for it with the lab. Some insurance companies may cover it. It's as simple as your man giving a simple and it being sent off to the lab. Your doctor will get the results and go over them with the two of you.
There is also a male home fertility test option. These tests offer privacy as well as accuracy.
There are two leading tests on the market right now. The Mirca Sperm Test screens for three male fertility issues: sperm presence, sperm count, and sperm motility. The test unit is a specialized microscope. It's very accurate and simple to use. It comes with complete instructions and examples to compare your sample to.
PreConceive Plus male fertility tests work a little differently. They stain the cells in a sperm sample. You then compare the color of your sample to that of the control reference. The test lets you identify low or normal sperm counts. It's an easy to use test and the results are read in a similar way to female fertility tests.
Both of these in-home test kits can give you privacy and can increase your confidence in correcting any imbalances or issues you man has. They can also be a starting point for disucssions with your doctor, or reseach on your own for diet changes and supplement plans for your man.
(NOTE: Want the Top Easy Steps to Boosting Your Fertility? Use these 5 simple, evidence-based steps to get pregnant and carry your healthy baby to term. Get them here.)
