When we started looking into our fertility issues, a fertility test for Al was the first thing that was ordered by the specialist (this is the endo specialist I'm talking about). Although she believed I had endo, she wanted to eliminate him for the purposes of any further investigation if (a) clearing the endo didn't work or (b) I didn't have it when they opened me up. The only way to diagnose endo is by laproscopy. Anything short of that and it is just 'suspected' endo.
The other thing is that a minor fertility thing in either partner might not be such a problem eg. mild endo usually doesn't make you infertile, and a minor problem with sperm is the same - but add the two together, and the problem multiplies exponentially.
Al, bless him, takes most things in his rather large stride and did what was asked of him, no questions, no complaints ...just perhaps a little nervousness about his boys going under the microscope, and a lot of hope that he wouldn't get stuck in traffic between our place and the lab (our place is South Auckland, the lab is Central), as the sample had to be to the lab within the half hour or it was no good for testing.
That analysis checked motility (sperm movement), morphology (what they looked like - the head, middle, and tail of the sperm - and therefore the overall percentage of normal sperm), and count (how many of the little wrigglers there actually were).
There are so many things to factor in with male fertility it seems - for example, our fertility specialist told us that depending on sperm count, they may consider anything up to 95% abormal sperm to be 'normal'. Confusing? Yes. It's not going to get any clearer either, I don't think, when I try to explain it. I suck at explaining things!
Basically, if you've got a low sperm count (say 10 mill per ml) with 90% abnormal, you'd be dead in the water (yes, yes, it's still possible to get pregnant, bla bla ...but you've got issues. Trust me), but with a better sperm count (say 50 mill per ml) it's not all tears before bedtime. You're probably just partially dead in the water.
But, you know, even then, it's all good. Just so long as you relax and forget about things, it'll be fine! (Yes, that was a cheap shot and I'm a bad person. Bite me. I can't believe people are still saying this to me.)
From the initial test, Al had 70% abnormal, but a good count (91 mill per ml ...they look for 20 mill per ml so even with 70% abnormal swimmers, he's still out in front of 20 million guy), so everything looks good with him. I guess it comes down to ...it only takes 1!
The specialist at Fertility Associates has ordered a re-do of Al's test though. He wants more extensive testing and he is of the opinion that the technicians at the lab we went to wouldn't know a healthy sperm if one jumped up and boxed them on the ears (that paints a bit of a picture, doesn't it?). So, he wants the test run through the Fertility Associates lab, because those techs are looking at sperm constantly. Plus, it'll give us more information - such as testing for antibodies, and sperm survival (over a 24 hour period). Things that weren't tested before. Things that may be wrong that we don't know about yet. He's working on the basis that the more information you have, the more information you have. I like his thinking.
Luckily, Al's not bothered a bit by this either.
Something I observed in the meeting was that the specialist was very cautious in the way he came around to talking about Al's fertility and I was really fascinated by the way the dynamic changed when focus turned to Al.
When we were focussing on me, he'd throw the ball at me, I'd throw it back, and there was no stopping to watch for broken glass. It was what it was. But, when he moved onto Al, it was like the floor was covered in broken glass, so carefully did he tread. Until of course he realised that if Al was any more laid back about things, he'd have been asleep (actually, between you and I, I'm not convinced he wasn't for half the appointment). Then the gloves came off, so to speak.
Having mulled it over, I honestly believe that a lot of people fail to divorce male fertility from sexuality, and possibly more so, masculinity, which is why the specialist was so careful in approaching it. It's interesting (and completely bollocks) psychology. But, when you think about it, for centuries, where a couple has remained childless, it was the wife that was barren, and that was that. Admittedly, there is more that can go wrong with girly bits, but still. The man and his virility weren't questioned.
The thing is though, with the whole manliness thing in mind, and because I am obviously either extremely immature, or else hysteria is setting in ... does anyone else find it immensely funny that the sample jar the guys have to catch their stuff in is pink?
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