Male Fertility Testing

As more and more couples are faced with the emotional reality of not being able to naturally conceive, medical science is subjecting males to just as many tests as females. Testing is done in order to determine what is causing a couple to be infertile and by doing so eliminating certain roadblocks that could be prohibiting conception. Male fertility testing encompasses many different things and in order to provide a better understanding, it is a topic that should be researched and discussed by infertile couples. Though most individuals still believe infertility is mainly a woman's problem, more than half of all cases can be directly attributed to a problem with a male.

It is known, that about 20-30% of the time that low sperm count or limited sperm motility can be an obstacle to a couple conceiving. It is just as important for a man as it is for a woman to be tested for fertility problems in order to understand what can be done to alleviate the issue. A physician or team of fertility specialists will diagnose a couple as being infertile when a pregnancy has not occurred within one year of trying unprotected and frequent sex.

However, there are other couples that continue to try to conceive and a large percentage will usually become pregnant in the second year or at some later point. For those couples that have impaired fertility, testing is the next option introduced in order to find out why. For male fertility testing, the individual will need to visit with a urologist for an evaluation and examination. The man will be subjected to a complete medical exam and take a patient history including a series of lifestyle questions, sexual history, physical examination, and a semen sample will be obtained for analysis. Identifying why a male has fertility issues is as important as it is for a female, but it is done in a very different manner.

A series of fertility tests on a male will take require a sperm and semen analysis, hormonal evaluations, genetic testing, anti-sperm antibodies testing and possibly other tests. Males with fertility issues can be treated and have the problem corrected, sometimes with prescription medications or minor surgery. Once the issue has been addressed concerning male fertility, a couple can overcome male fertility issues and go on to conceive and have a child.