Epigee HOME

Sperm Test At Home

When you are having problems getting pregnant, it could be to do to your partner's sperm. Before going through lots of testing yourself, why not get your partner to do a simple home sperm test? Of course, like any other home test, it's not completely fool proof but it will give you an idea if the problem may lie with your partner rather than with you. After all, in about one third of couples coping with infertility the problem lies wholly or partly with the man. So, as it is much simpler to test a man for infertility than it is to test a woman, it makes sense to test a man first.

The SpermCheck Fertility Test

With this new FDA approved SpermCheck Fertility over-the-counter test for home use you can easily check to see if your partner's sperm count is sufficient to get you pregnant. SpermCheck is available for less than $30 online or at good pharmacies and gives you a result in 30 minutes.  With this test you can save not only money and time, but also the embarrassment of doing the test in a clinic.

Doing The Test

SpermCheck is made by Contravac and consists of a semen collection cup, a transfer device, a bottle with the sperm check solution and a sperm-checking tester. Once your partner has collected the semen sample directly into the collection cup, you then need to wait at least 20 minutes to enable the sperm to thin out enough to be collected. Then, after stirring the semen about ten times with the transfer device, you draw the sample into the tube by raising the plunger. Once you have the right amount of sample, you release the sperm collected into the solution bottle and gently mix it. After waiting 2 minutes, you put exactly six drops of the sperm solution into the testing device. After 7 minutes, your partner can read his results.

If you do the test properly it shows whether your partner has a sperm count of more than 20 million per milliliter, which is normal, or less than that figure, which shows there may be a problem. However, this at-home test only checks for sperm quantity not sperm quality so, even if your partner's sperm count check is normal, your partner may still need to do a quality check in a clinic.

Retesting

Remember, new sperm are made all the time, so if this home test shows that your partner's sperm quantity is low you can try to improve his sperm health. Some of the things that can affect sperm quantity and quality are smoking, wearing tight jeans and underpants, using a laptop on the knees and an inadequate diet. By making simple changes and ensuring that your man takes extra vitamins like B, and E and minerals like zinc, you may be able to make all the difference to both his sperm count and its quality. After about three months when your health regime has had a chance to take effect, you can then test his sperm count again and see the difference.