Male infertility is when as a man you have a poor chance of making your female partner pregnant. It usually depends on the quality of your sperm cells. Sometimes, your infertility is linked to sexual function, and other times it could be linked to your semen quality. Some of the main parameters examined is the sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology.
These sperm parameters can affect fertility because your chance of getting your partner pregnant decreases with a lower sperm count, motility and morphology. In fact, any sort of problem with the quality of your sperm can also affect your chances of getting your woman pregnant.
Male infertility factor, often due to bad sperm parameters, is one of the common reasons that you have trouble conceiving. But you may also experience other health issues that can affect your fertility. The large occurrence of male factor infertility makes testing fundamental to obtaining an accurate diagnosis and designing an appropriate treatment protocol. The good news is that testing at a qualified laboratory that uses strict semen analysis parameters can provide patients with an accurate picture of the male partner’s fertility status.
If you’re diagnosed with male factor infertility, there are many treatment options. Normally, you must produce sperm that is healthy enough to fertilise the egg. The first step in diagnosing male factor infertility is to assess overall fertility potential of your sperm.
Sperm count can be important if you’re trying to conceive a child. An abnormal sperm count may also indicate an underlying health condition. A normal sperm count ranges from 15 million sperm to more than 200 million sperm per millilitre (mL) of semen. Anything less than 15 million sperm per millilitre, or 39 million sperm per ejaculation, is considered low. A low sperm count is often referred to as oligospermia. A high, or above average, sperm count is over 200 million sperm per millimetre.
You can determine your sperm count through a semen analysis. The number, shape, and mobility of sperm are important for testing for male factor infertility. Your doctor may recommend testing up to two to three samples of sperm at different visits to get an accurate analysis.
If you’re trying to conceive naturally, a healthy sperm count is often necessary. Even though it only takes one sperm and one egg to get pregnant, more healthy sperm will increase your chances of pregnancy each month. Even if you aren’t trying to conceive, your sperm count may be an important measure of overall health. If you’re diagnosed with a low sperm count, your doctor may evaluate your testosterone levels, lifestyle, and overall health.
Sperm count can affect fertility because your chance of getting your partner pregnant decreases with a lower sperm count. Problems with the quality of sperm can also affect your chances of getting a woman pregnant. Frequently, lifestyle factors can affect your sperm. You can make small changes immediately to naturally improve the quality and quantity.
Between 30 to 40 per cent of infertile couples experience a form of male factor infertility. But this form of infertility may be easily overcome with the right diagnosis, lifestyle choices, and treatment. Semen is continuously being produced in your body, and takes approximately 74 days to mature, meaning that positive lifestyle changes today can result in improvements in sperm quantity and/or quality in as little as two to three months’ time. Further evaluation may be required based on the abnormality of the semen analysis.
You can overcome male factor infertility with a variety of treatment options. A diagnosis of male factor infertility could be mild, moderate, or severe. The goal with any treatment is to get the sperm as close to the egg as possible. For milder cases, success with intrauterine insemination (IUI) is achievable.
Prior to the insemination, the sperm is collected and “washed”. The washing process separates debris from the healthy sperm, creating a concentrated semen sample. Upon insemination, the washed sperm is placed into your uterus through a soft, thin catheter. This method places the sperm in very close proximity to one or two eggs that have been released through the natural process of ovulation. A fertility specialist can successfully treat your moderate cases of male factor with IUI but, if unsuccessful, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is very effective. The benefit of IVF is that sperm has more available eggs to fertilise.
Once the physician retrieves the eggs, an embryologist places them in a dish in the laboratory, and then places a concentrated amount of sperm directly onto the eggs and monitor closely for fertilisation. Moderate and severe cases may also use IVF treatment with the addition of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Instead of positioning the sperm close to the eggs in the Petri dish, the embryologist actually selects a single sperm and injects it directly into the centre of an egg.
An embryologist then monitors each egg for signs of fertilisation and embryo development. ICSI is an extremely effective technique for overcoming male infertility. In many cases, it can take six months to a year to get pregnant when there are no fertility concerns.
Overcoming your male factor infertility problem is possible through the right diagnostic testing and appropriate treatment protocols. Infertility conversation often revolves around the woman; however, the man’s role is just as important. If you are over 35, and you and your partner have been trying to conceive for six months, your doctor may refer you to a fertility specialist. If you have been trying to conceive for over one year, and you and your partner are under 35, see your doctor for a referral.
Credit: Abayomi Ajayi