Post Date April, 15 2023
Semen examination is the first routine examination conducted by the male partner of infertile couples. Generally, if the male partner has not taken contraceptive measures for more than a year after marriage and has not become pregnant, this examination must be conducted to understand the amount of semen, the number of sperm, the survival rate, activity rate, and morphology of sperm in the male partner. In our years of infertility treatment, we have found that many patients now have the following misconceptions about semen testing.
The first misconception is that the man is in good health and does not need to undergo a semen test.
Influenced by traditional feudal ideology, the husband always blames his wife for not having a child. "A piece of salty and alkaline land, nothing grows!" Therefore, many infertile couples have been treated for many years, but the woman has been running around in the hospital, and the man is unwilling to undergo the most basic examinations.
The second misconception: If the semen test results are normal, it is the woman's problem.
In outpatient treatment, many husbands wait with anxiety for the results of their semen test. Once they are informed that the test results are within the normal range, the president breathes a sigh of relief and tells his wife, "I am good, that's your problem!" This kind of either or judgment is actually a wrong idea, because the semen test results are normal ≠ fertility. The results of routine semen examination can only provide a rough understanding of the quantity, odor, color, liquefaction time, and the number, motility, activity rate, and morphology of sperm in the semen. However, the normal internal structure of sperm, fertilization ability, and completeness of genetic material cannot be determined. That is, one can only understand its' external image ', but cannot know its' internal quality'. In addition, about 10% of all infertile couples have unexplained infertility, and all the tests that couples can currently undergo can be normal, but they cannot conceive. Some couples divorce due to infertility, and when they get married again, it's easy for them to get pregnant. So, if the semen test results are normal, after further examination by the woman, if it is basically normal, then the man needs to undergo further examination.
The third misconception is that a routine semen examination is sufficient.
In male clinics, it is often found that some patients are eager to know whether their condition is good or not after receiving their first semen routine examination report, and whether it is possible to make the woman pregnant. Actually, it's too early to draw a conclusion at this point. We know that the condition of men's semen is greatly affected by other factors, which is closely related to the interval between semen extraction and the last ejaculation, whether there is a sauna 2 weeks before semen extraction, whether there are drugs that affect sperm motility, personnel and machines for inspection, and other factors. So, a semen examination sometimes cannot accurately reflect the true condition of semen. For this reason, the World Health Organization specifically requires routine semen tests to be conducted twice or more consecutively within 2 weeks before a diagnosis can be made based on the results. So, after receiving the report, we should not rush to draw conclusions, especially if the results are abnormal, sometimes it takes three consecutive times to clarify.
