What is a "normal" result?

This is a graph of sperm counts performed on the same man over a period of 120 consecutive weeks and shows the enormous variation in numbers which can occur

As you can see, even this "normal" man has produced several counts which fall below the minimum normal value of 20 million per ml.

A man of normal fertility may therefore produce low counts occasionally. This is one reason why it is vital to perform at least two semen analyses on each patient.

Assessing fertility

Poor fertility may be caused by one factor or a combination of factors. If your results appear normal then it may be that the problem lies with your partner or with both of you (an apparently fertile man and woman may have trouble producing a child between them. It is usually said that the problem lies with the man 40% , with the woman 40% and with both 20% of the time.

Reduced male infertility may be caused by one factor or by a combination of factors.

Your doctors will look at the results and make a judgement on treatment. This may simply involve treating the patient to try to boost fertility or involve more complex procedures to bring about fertilization: IUI, IVF, ICSI, etc.

Remember that there is always hope. Even in some patients who have no sperm at all in their semen, it has been possible to recover occasional sperm using testicular biopsy. Successful fertilization and birth have occured using this method (ICSI).