Semen Analysis: Three-Hour Experiment

[Flickr.com by tuffy1973]

The evaluation of infertility cases and postvasectomy cases are the two primary reasons for semen analysis.

I still have a semi-vivid image in my mind when we had a three-hour experiment for semen analysis. The guys had to be absent for one subject because they needed to "concentrate"…if you know what I mean. True man or semi-man, he/half-he had to donate his sperm for semen analysis experiment.

While the men were "away," we, ladies, had to prepare the laboratory equipment for the said activity. And after maybe almost an hour of waiting, the guys arrived sweaty and, surprisingly, in high spirits.

Then, the fun began.

If I could accurately remember, the first thing we did was to sniff the chlorine type smell of the semen. (It wasn’t necessary, but we did it anyway.) And then we measured the volume (normal semen volume ranges between 2 and 5 ml) and its pH (normal is slightly alkaline); and determined its viscosity (normal viscosity will pour in droplets).

Looking at the sperm through the microscope is the most interesting part because we could really see the tadpole-like rapid movement of the sperm. In fertility cases, the actual number of sperm present, the motility of the sperm in a semen specimen, and the sperm's morphology are valid measurements.

We all know that there's only one (or sometimes two) sperm that can successfully penetrate the ovum, but the sperm count normal values are 20 to 160 million sperm per milliliter. Isn't it frustrating when you have countless sperms and only one could get in? (lol)

Furthermore, even though you have enough sperm count but the motility of your semen is not that aggressive, impregnating a woman will be formidable. One male classmate of mine had a grade 4 (excellent rapid movement). No wonder after a year, he's already a father.

And don’t ever think that having a handsome face is already enough because the face or the appearance of his sperm should also count in fertility case. It is essential for the guy's semen to have 70% to 99.9% good looking sperms, like this: