At your appointment we will review your medical history, perform an examination, discuss social and environmental factors that may be affecting fertility, draw labs if indicated, and provide you with an at home sample collection kit. Next, you will provide a semen sample in the privacy of your home and place it in the mail. Once your results have been received we will go over them with you in detail and make a plan to optimize your chances of conception.
The cost of this appointment is $275, which includes the initial appointment, physical, the at-home semen analysis kit, semen analysis, a thorough review of the results with PA Ward, and the development of a plan to optimize your chances of conception.
Blood-work, including a hormone evaluation, can be obtained as well. The prices of these labs vary depending on what is ordered and can be discussed at your appointment. If you have recent lab results, bring them to your appointment and we can review them. Repeat labs may be unnecessary.
An adequate volume of ejaculate is necessary to transport sperm into the female reproductive tract.
A higher concentration of sperm increases the odds of the sperm fertilizing the egg.
Much like the concentration, this is simply a numbers game. The higher the umber, the greater the chance of fertilization.
Sperm motility is important because it determines if the sperm will be able to navigate the female reproductive tract sufficiently to reach the egg.
If there are numerous sperm without sufficient motility, they will not likely reach the egg in order to fertilize it. This factor is crucial.
The shape of the sperm determines many things to include motility and may also represent viability. Misshapen sperm may not be genetically viable.
We treat low ejaculate volume with lifestyle modifications.
Similar to increasing the volume, we use lifestyle modifications as well as certain medications to increase sperm concentration.
If the volume of ejaculate and concentration of sperm within it go up, naturally, the total number of sperm will increase.
Sperm motility can be affected by inadequate volume of ejaculate. Thus increasing the volume may improve motility. However, if the sperm are simply immobile, this may be a more difficult issue to address.
Increasing the volume and concentration should increase the number of sperm swimming.
The shape of the sperm may indicate infertility, but it is also normal for a significant amount of sperm to be misshapen. If one produces only misshapen sperm, this may indicate infertility although optimizing one's modifiable factors concerning lifestyle and increasing volume may help.