Semen Analysis

A semen analysis is a useful preliminary test to determine whether or not there is a need for further evaluation and/or treatment for male factor infertility. Once you have made an appointment, the specimen can either be obtained in a private collection room at one of our two locations or following home collection—please remember that when the specimen is obtained at home it needs to be dropped off no later than an hour after collection. In either case, the male partner should not have had any ejaculation in the preceding 3 to 5 days.

Although the analysis includes comprehensive assessment of the sample provided, there are primarily three features that we focus upon in gauging the fertility potential of the male partner:

• Sperm Count (expressed in millions of sperm/milliliter of specimen)
• Sperm Motility (expressed as the combined percentage of rapidly and slowly forward-moving sperm)
• Sperm Morphology (expressed as the percentage of sperm exhibiting a perfectly normal head, midpiece, and tail)

If any of the above parameters are abnormal, we will usually recommend a second semen analysis obtained at least two weeks after the initial assessment before recommending further evaluation or treatment.