A Patients Guide to the Sperm Test

This document will attempt to give comprehensive and easily understandable information on semen analysis:

• how to collect the sample and why it is important to follow the instructions
• how the test is performed, what is looked for and what are the normal result

Collecting the Sample - Instructions

Instructions should ask you to do the following:

1. Abstain from sex for a period of at least two days but not more than seven days.
2. Produce a sample by masturbation only.
3. Collect the whole sample in the container provided.
4. See that the laboratory gets the sample before it is 1 hour old - keep it warm under your clothing if you are transporting it from a distance to the clinic.

Semen Analysis - what tests are performed on your sample

The World Health Organisation, in its latest (1999) manual, recommends that the following tests should be performed as a routine on all semen samples undergoing fertility testing:

APPEARANCE

VOLUME

LIQUEFACTION

VISCOCITY

AGGLUTINATION

pH

MOTILITY

LEUCOCYTE COUNT

SPERM COUNT

VITALITY

MORPHOLOGY

ANTI-SPERM ANTIBODIES