You may have heard about it and it’s true…there is now a take home sperm test for men!

The test is called the Sperm Check Fertility test and it allows men (and couple’s) to quickly measure whether or not they have the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended number of 20 million sperm per millilitre. If you have over 20 million, you receive a positive result. If you don’t, you get a negative result. It’s that simple.

Although determining low sperm count in the comfort of your own home is an attractive thought and I truly believe these tests will be flying off the shelves, there are a few issues I think people need to consider before they put their infertility questions into one basic test.

First, low sperm count is one of many causes of male factor infertility and only tells part of the story. For example, some men will have normal counts but may be suffering from poor morphology or slow motility, both of which can create difficulties getting pregnant. The company who makes this product mentions this fact on their website (I was happy to see that they did so).

Also, some sperm may have normal counts but will have difficulty penetrating the egg resulting in an inability to get pregnant. This test will definitely not help you with this issue.

Take a look below and compare the outcomes of the Sperm Check Fertility test versus a semen analysis:

Sperm Check Fertility test:

• Sperm count

Semen analysis:

• Sperm count – over 20 million is ideal
• Sperm motility – often graded from A – D. A’s are good swimmers, D’s are not!
• Sperm morphology (shape) – irregularly shaped sperm are common but you shouldn’t have too many
• Volume – how much semen is produced
• Viscosity – colour and consistency of semen
• WBC – white blood cell count (to look for possible infections)
• pH – semen should be alkaline, not acidic

As you can see, there may be a lot of valuable information missing if you only do the Sperm Check Fertility test.

There are other sperm tests above and beyond the regular semen analysis as well, such as the DNA fragmentation test. This test examines the DNA of the sperm to see if there is any damage. A semen analysis can come back completely normal but may have DNA damage. Unless a DNA fragmentation test is done, one will never know. For Canadians, this is currently an out of pocket expense but for those having difficulties getting pregnant without any apparent reason, it is a good thing to check. Ask your fertility doctor if this test is right for you.

This is not to say that the Sperm Fertility Check test does not have some purpose. I feel that men who do the test at home (who may otherwise not do it at an office) and who get a poor result may be inclined to head to the fertility clinic for a proper semen analysis. So buy the test, see if your count is okay but remember that there is a lot of other important information you may be missing if you don’t complete a semen analysis.

If your sperm counts are low, ask me how I can use natural methods to help!  Use your free email consult today.