Several factors contribute to a couple’s inability to conceive. Your diagnosis may confirm female factor infertility, male factor infertility, a combination of both, or unexplained infertility. To determine what lies at the root of your fertility issues, both parents must go through testing.
What is A Semen Analysis?
For men, the first test is usually a semen analysis. This non-invasive screening uses a sample of semen to evaluate your sperm and how it functions. Once your doctor obtains your semen sample, they send it to a lab for analysis. There, a technician examines your semen for three specific factors:
- Sperm Concentration: Your sperm count, or the number of sperm in your semen sample.
- Sperm Motility: The movement of your sperm.
- Sperm Morphology: The size of your sperm and their shape.
Semen analysis will also look at the volume of semen in your ejaculate, measure the pH, and check for white blood cells, which may indicate a potential infection or inflammation.
If the Semen Analysis is Normal, What Can be Wrong?
Once the lab determines that your semen analysis is normal, your doctor may decide to move on to other tests to determine the cause of your infertility. It’s important to remember that basic semen analysis doesn’t provide a complete picture of your reproductive health. Underlying health conditions, stress, or lifestyle factors are just a few of the things that impact male fertility.
Here are some of the other conditions that may cause male factor infertility, even though your semen analysis is normal.
DNA Fragmentation
Sperm DNA can become fragmented or broken due to a few different factors. Chemotherapy can damage sperm’s DNA, as can a poor diet, regularly consuming too much alcohol, and inflammation. Sperm with fragmented or broken strands of DNA may impair your fertility or cause miscarriage.
Hormone Imbalance
The hormones testosterone and FSH, both essential for sperm production and sperm maturation, may be out of balance due to lifestyle factors or obesity. Medical conditions such as diabetes, an autoimmune disorder, or a varicocele (enlarged vein akin to varicose veins).
Imbalanced hormones may also be the result of steroid use, stress, genetic conditions, or environmental toxins like pesticides or heavy metals, common in agriculture.
Morphology of Your Sperm
Even though your semen analysis didn’t show an issue with the shape of your sperm, it only looks at the overall majority. Upon further, more morphology-specific analysis, your doctor may find some sperm with shapes that don’t allow for egg penetration or fertilization. Abnormally-shaped sperm may result from exposure to toxins or certain chemicals, infection, overheating, or genetics.
Lifestyle
Your lifestyle impacts your fertility in many ways. Sperm count, morphology, and motility are all impacted by heavy alcohol use, smoking tobacco, or cannabis. A poor diet and chronic or prolonged stress, which increases cortisol and imbalances hormones, also take a toll on your reproductive ability.
As we mentioned above, if you work with pesticides, heavy metals, or other environmental toxins, this may impair your fertility. If you wear bicycle shorts, constrictive underwear, or spend time in a hot tub or even regularly take hot baths, the health of your sperm may be adversely affected.
The Good News
If your doctor determines male factor infertility related to issues with your sperm not evident in a semen analysis, there are things you and your partner can do to conceive. Sperm abnormalities due to lifestyle, obesity, exposure to toxins, and chronic stress may be reversible once you manage and correct these influences. If your infertility is due to a manageable medical condition, you and your doctor can take steps to manage your condition.
When your semen analysis is normal, but your doctor finds your fertility issues, assisted reproductive technology, like IVF, may be the answer. Please reach out to LA IVF today, and, together, let’s find the best way to overcome your infertility.
