When the plan was to get pregnant last year and that doesn't happen, the first thing that many women do is assume that its HER fault. I have talked with so many women who have decided just to "look into" the possibility of surrogacy because she isn't getting pregnant or had one or two miscarriages but has never visited an infertility clinic! "I just wanted to know how much it costs, just in case I need to go this route" one woman told me recently. I asked her if her husband had been tested. "Tested for what?" FOR WHAT? Why it never crossed her mind that her husbands sperm might be the reason that she wasn't getting pregnant is beyond me. There must STILL be this stigma out there that if the woman isn't getting pregnant there must be something wrong with HER.
The easiest and least expensive of all infertility tests can be done on the male partner first. And I highly recommend that he is tested before another dime is spent on any female infertility testing. Here are a few things that can be found out about the male partner before panic sets in and dollars are flying out the window!
The basic semen analysis measures these factors:
• Semen volume. This is the amount of semen you produce during ejaculation. Based on World Health Organization guidelines, 2-5 milliliters is considered normal.
• Sperm concentration. This measure, also called sperm count, is the number of sperm in a given amount of semen. Normal is more than 20 million sperm per milliliter.
• Sperm motility. This is the ability of the sperm to move. A normal result means at least 50 percent of the sperm can move forward.
• Sperm morphology. This is the shape of the sperm. Under one system of measurement, at least 30 percent of the sperm should have a normal shape.1 Under a different, stricter set of criteria for morphology, at least 14 percent of sperm must meet the standards to be considered sufficient.Even though a male whose semen is below normal on one or more of these tests may lower the chances of making his partner pregnant it doesn't mean that its impossible. Because semen analysis results can vary from one sample to another, the doctor may ask for at least 3 samples spaced a few weeks apart.Sharon LaMothe
Posted by: Sharon LaMothe~
Founder of LaMothe Surrogacy Consulting
Owner LaMothe Services
