Some at-home tests also check how well sperm can move. For a home sperm test, you collect a semen sample by ejaculating into a small cup. A home sperm test may be appealing because you can do it in the privacy of your own home. Results are often ready within a few minutes.
A semen analysis is the most common procedure when it comes to male fertility testing and seeking to determine if there is a male infertility factor.
Healthy semen is a cloudy white color with a jelly consistency similar to a raw egg. Slight changes in semen color, texture, and even smell might be normal and should no pose concern. In some cases, semen color changes could be a sign of an underlying issue.
Causes of male infertility
Abnormal sperm production or function due to undescended testicles, genetic defects, health problems such as diabetes, or infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, mumps or HIV. Enlarged veins in the testes (varicocele) also can affect the quality of sperm.
Fertility is most likely if the semen discharged in a single ejaculation (ejaculate) contains at least 15 million sperm per milliliter. Too little sperm in an ejaculation might make it more difficult to get pregnant because there are fewer candidates available to fertilize the egg.
The concentration of sperm is what makes the semen cloudy and thick, so if your ejaculate is watery it is possible that you have a low sperm count. This doesn't mean you're infertile (so precautions to prevent pregnancy still need to be taken for couples that don't want to get pregnant).
Men start losing their fertility at age 40.
In a study of more than 1,900 couples, irrespective of the woman's age, IVF attempts involving men 40 or older failed 70 percent more often than IVF attempts involving men younger than 30. Previous theory: Older men produce fewer kids because they get less sex.
Peak male fertility is around 25-29 years old. Sperm quality begins to decline at 30. At 45, men begin to experience a significant decrease in semen volume. Older men can also take longer to conceive a child.
Another study that evaluated the relationship between age and semen parameters also concluded that male fertility decline begins at 35, and suggested that male fertility peaks between 30 and 35. Bottom line: Men generally see a decrease in fertility beginning at 35, and the decline progresses from there.
The age where a man is most fertile is between 22 and 25 years. It is suggested to have children before the age of 35. After this age, the male fertility begins to worsen.
Male fertility generally starts to reduce around age 40 to 45 years when sperm quality decreases. Increasing male age reduces the overall chances of pregnancy and increases time to pregnancy (the number of menstrual cycles it takes to become pregnant) and the risk of miscarriage and fetal death.
Some studies suggest that moderate ejaculation (2–4 times per week) is associated with a lower prostate cancer risk. However, ejaculating more often doesn't mean your cancer risk drops even more.
A male's body is constantly creating sperm, but sperm regeneration is not immediate. On average, it takes a male around 74 days to produce new sperm from start to finish. Although the average time is 74 days , the actual time frame for an individual to make sperm can vary.
As men get older it is also usual for their semen to become slightly thinner with less volume being produced at ejaculation. It is therefore quite normal if there appear to be clumps of jelly-like globules in your semen and there is nothing to worry about here.
How many sperm do you need to get pregnant? It takes just one sperm to fertilize a woman's egg. Keep in mind, though, for each sperm that reaches the egg, there are millions that don't. On average, each time men ejaculate they release nearly 100 million sperm.
If your menstrual cycle lasts 28 days and your period arrives like clockwork, it's likely that you'll ovulate on day 14. That's halfway through your cycle. Your fertile window begins on day 10. You're more likely to get pregnant if you have sex at least every other day between days 10 and 14 of a 28-day cycle.
Roughly 15 percent of couples in the United States have trouble conceiving, and over 50 percent of the time, there is a male infertility issue.
For healthy semen samples collected between 5:00am and 7:30am were found to exhibit a statistically higher sperm concentration, total sperm count and a higher percentage of normally shaped sperm, compared to samples produced later in the day. Sperm motility was not influenced by the time of sample production.