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An At-Home "Sample"

Testing for Sperm Concentration in the Privacy of Your Home

By Lyn Mettler

If the test well is lighter than the pre-colored circle, the sperm concentration is below the WHO standard. If the test well is the same color or darker, the sperm concentration is above the WHO standard.

What does that mean? According to Dr. Morgentaler, a low number is a signal for a man to seek help, and a number at or above the standard means the couple may want to try a little longer to conceive before going to the doctor.

"It will help identify men who may have a problem early on so that more definitive testing can be performed," says Dr. Morris.

According to a study conducted by the test manufacturers which compared results between those who performed an at-home test with those who had tests professionally done, the results were the same 87 percent of the time. Compared to other home tests such as ovulation predictor kits and home pregnancy tests, however, says Dr. Morris, these are far less accurate results.

For Burns, the test was difficult to read. Both she and her husband had a hard time determining if the test was truly darker or lighter than the pre-colored circle. "Both of us looked and really didn't think it was clearly one way or the other, so in the process of elimination, we decided it was probably about at the standard 20 million," she says. However, the couple later had a professional semen analysis done, and her husband's sperm was way above the standard.

Dr. Morris also points out, though, that sperm counts can vary greatly at different times. "A normal result once or twice may not be indicative of a man's 'normal' status," he says. He also reminds patients that the test only examines concentration and not any of the other aspects of sperm quality. For example, he says, if a man has a sperm concentration at or above the standard but only 5 percent are motile, then that man is not going to have good fertility potential.

Want to see more?

• Male Factor Infertility
• Achieving Pregnancy: Ten Tips for Men
• Eight Ways to Help Improve Male Fertility
• Talk about it!