Men's Survival Guide
...the men's room
In the course of your fertility profile or fertility treatment such as IUI or IVF you will be asked to produce by masturbation a sperm sample.
The test, as all women will tell you, is nothing compared to the loads of tests that they have to do!
In Such a personal matter, many are very embarrassed about giving a sperm sample…. how many jokes have you heard! There is no need to feel uncomfortable -it’s our job to assess sperm samples and we’ve seen everything!
The test may be humorous for some but for many men they have a lot of anxiety, but there are many ways to make the tests less of an ordeal. At the end of the day the appointment can always be rescheduled.
So here is a little survival guide:
The pot that accompanies you to the little room is available from either the drug store or your friendly IVF unit. It is sterile and used specifically for urine or sperm samples not a wine glass, plastic cup or a jam jar wrapped in a sock!
Your partner may enter the men’s room with you but oral sex or coitus interuptus must not be performed. If the sample cannot be produced by masturbation, a special condom can be supplied. The regular, everyday condoms have spermacide inside and would obviously grossly affect the result of the test.
The sample can also be produced at home if the sample can be ferried to the lab in less than one hour. The sample must be kept as close as possible to body temperature (no on ice) and it can be carried in your coat pocket or bra if you have one.
The men’s room is situated in a quiet and more remote area of the hospital, isolated from disturbances. Useful reading material and informative videos help you get into the mood (if they haven’t been stolen).
You will be asked to have 2-3 days abstinence, which is assumed to be a good time period to observe the sperm. But lately discussions about the validity of the time period have been aired. If a couple have sex as regularly as once a month the test will not prove anything about the previous state of the sperm.
Don’t be fooled by volume of the sperm, is not so important - the test also looks at sperm count, motility and morphology of the spermatozoa.
The sample may be investigated also bio-chemically to test if there is any deficiency, or tested for bacterial contamination.
But there is no definite test for the mightiness of the sperm and for all the parameters that exist, the real proof of the pudding is seen only after Ivf that is if the sperm can fertilise the egg.
Semen specimens can vary greatly according to illness, stress or fatigue-tell your fertility specialist is you have recently had the flu or are under medication.
The overall picture can also change. We have seen men previous fathered a child who now have a less than adequate sperm sample…. but also very poor samples which later go on to fertilise naturally without the need for IVF, IUI etc.
I, myself, wouldn’t exist if my father had listened to the advise of his doctor some 40 years ago!
Because stress can play an important role in the quality of the semen and the outcome of the test, if an unexpected low result is obtained it is recommended to do repeat the test. Only a true picture of the sperm can be seen after a second test some weeks afterwards.
Many factors can affect sperm quality…or not.
The pesticides that leek into our foods, estrogens rich products, smoking, drinking, stress, chemicals in the air, high temperatures that occur in the testis from a long day’s work at the desk or in the drivers seat.
There are no strict factors
If you think there will be a difficulty in producing a sample “on the day” it is wise to freeze a sample (just-in-case!) before the big day of your partner’s treatment.
Whatever the outcome from the men’s room –it is worth noting that there have been great advances in treating male infertility. And even if the result of your sperm count comes back zero then this is not the end of the line…
So what to do before your test…
Wash well all your body particularly your genitals with soap and then rinse off soap thoroughly.
Do not use very hot water (the ancient Chinese used hot-tubs filled with increasingly hot water as a form of contraception).
Wear clean underwear.
Before producing the sample wash hands well, rinse off soap well.
Try to gather the entire sample in the pot, as this is very important, if not please inform the embryologist as usually the first portion of the sperm contains the most spermatozoa.
Be sure to write your name clearly on the side (and not the top cap) of the pot.
