Problems with making healthy sperm are the most common causes of male infertility. Sperm may be immature, abnormally shaped, or unable to swim. In some cases, you may not have enough sperm. Or you may not make any sperm.
One of the main issues that commonly affect a man's fertility is the quantity and the quality of their semen. This means that testing your semen should be one of the first things you do if you suspect you are having problems with your fertility as a man. Semen testing usually takes place in a clinal laboratory.
Your health care provider will study your sperm volume, count, concentration, movement ("motility"), and structure. The results of the semen analysis tests tells about your ability to conceive (start a pregnancy). Even if the semen test shows low sperm numbers or no sperm, it may not mean you are permanently infertile.
SpermCheck Fertility kit can be used in the privacy of your own home and quickly informs men whether their sperm count is normal or low. An important first step in planning for a pregnancy or determining the cause of a couple's current infertility issues is to test the man's sperm count.
excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and using drugs such as marijuana or cocaine. certain medications, including testosterone replacement therapy, long-term anabolic steroid use, cancer medications (chemotherapy), some antibiotics and some antidepressants. being overweight or obese.
Discoloured or foul-smelling ejaculate
If your semen is yellow in colour or there is a foul smell this can be an indication of an infection in your prostate. Infections in the genitals are usually either a urinary tract infection (UTI) or sexually transmitted infection (STI).
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.
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.
While there are some situations in which male infertility can be reversed with medication or surgery, in most cases, assisted reproductive technology (ART; for example, in vitro fertilization or "IVF") is the recommended approach.
Causes of male infertility
These may include: 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.
Have sex regularly. The highest pregnancy rates occur in couples who have sex every day or every other day. Have sex near the time of ovulation. If having sex every day isn't possible — or enjoyable — have sex every 2 to 3 days a week starting soon after the end of your period.
No, masturbating won't cause you to have a low sperm count or affect your ability to have children. Masturbating is normal and healthy. And it's totally okay to masturbate a lot – even more than once a day.
Although men never stop producing sperm throughout their lives, sperm production does begin decreasing after age 35. Motility, volume and genetic quality of sperm of older men are less likely to achieve a successful pregnancy even in younger women.
With an at-home test, you will collect a sample of semen and either use a home analyzer device or send the sample to a lab that can assess the sperm within that sample for these key metrics. However, there are many other factors that can affect fertility, such as hormones, including testosterone.
Certain factors, however, can contribute to a reduction in male ejaculate, including your age, particular medications, or even a surgical procedure you've had. Experts note that low testosterone levels, which affect about 5 million American men, can also result in the release of less semen during ejaculation.
The next time you have sex, the number of sperms is not as much as the first time, but the quality of sperm remains stable, and that quantity is enough for fertilization to occur. This proves that having sex twice in a row is still possible to get pregnant if there is no reasonable protection.
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.
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.
One study on the topic classified super fertility as having a monthly fecundity rate (the ability to get pregnant) of 60% or greater. If you are born with an abnormally high egg or sperm count, have an extremely regular cycle, or have many healthy eggs in older age, you could be “super” fertile.
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).