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Little Cup-'o'-Phobia

Overcoming Fear of Sperm Count

By Johnathon Allen

The old saying, "It takes two to tango" is especially true for couples who are trying to conceive. Though women receive much of the focus in fertility testing, between 30 and 50 percent of identified problems are male factors.

The first step in male virility testing is a relatively simple laboratory test known as the complete semen analysis (SA), commonly known as a "sperm count." A sample of seminal fluid is produced by masturbation and analyzed for different features including fluid volume, sperm numbers, sperm motility (the number of moving sperm) and sperm morphology (the shape of the sperm head).

Despite the fact that women must endure extensive, far less pleasurable types of testing, they are usually more inclined to submit to it than men are. Though this may seem a considerable mystery to the female half of the species, an appointment with a little plastic cup can sometimes be more daunting for men than going three rounds against Mike Tyson.

"There are a number of good reasons why men might be put off by the thought of doing an SA," says Dr. James D. Weinrich, professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and a specialist in male sexuality. "For a very long time, the number of offspring a man had was intrinsically tied to his sense of 'manhood' and the value of his estate. Though most of modern society has evolved past these perceptions of virility, they are deeply embedded in the male psyche. Also, whether we choose to admit it or not, there's a social stigma attached to the act of masturbation and, though nearly every man does it, they're still a little cup-shy when a nurse asks them to stimulate on demand."

Collin Kessler of Redding, Calif., can attest to that. "It certainly is more than a little strange," he says. "It's strange because the environment was so sterile, and because there were people sitting in the other room waiting for me to masturbate successfully. Walking out past them with a little warm vial in my hand was also weird."

Want to see more?

• When is it Time to See an Infertility Specialist?
• Achieving Pregnancy: 10 Tips for Men
• Eight Ways to Help Improve Male Fertility
• Talk about it!