Male Evaluation

Andrology is the field of laboratory medicine that studies male reproduction. The basic male fertility test is the semen analysis (SA).

Unfortunately, there are no good, reliable tests of sperm function, only of anatomy. Men can vary greatly in their output of semen and sperm from ejaculate to ejaculate. For example, normal fertile men may occasionally have poor quality ejaculates, and subfertile men may occasionally have samples that appear normal.

The SA is typically collected by masturbation into a wide-mouthed sterile cup, which can be purchased from any pharmacy, and which we provide to our patients who collect their sample in our offices. Another method involves collection during intercourse into a special non-spermicidal condom called a Semen Collection Device (SCD). This special condom is available for purchase at our office and gives men who are uncomfortable with collection by masturbation a good alternative. Some clinical papers suggest a better quality sample may be obtained this way.

Only after we do repeated semen analyses can we can decide whether or not a male factor is contributing to the infertility problem. If there is a contributing male factor, we usually advise men to have a hormonal evaluation, physical examination by a urologist, and to make nutritional and lifestyle changes.

For additional information on contributing health factors see this external site: protectyourfertility.org

For additional information see Laboratory Services.