To diagnose male factor infertility. The test measures several parameters:
Concentration: the amount of sperm produced within one milliliter of semen.
Volume: the number of milliliters of semen produced per sample.
Count: the total amount of sperm produced in a sample (concentration x volume).
Motility: the percentage of sperm that can swim forward.
Morphology: the percentage of sperm that has the proper shape.
Reading the semen analysis
What we are trying to establish with semen analysis is whether or not the man can produce enough sperm that progresses fast enough and has the right way, so that some of your sperm can reach the ovum and it will be fertilized by one of them. As a result, we must look at concentration, motility, and morphology together.
Unless the man does not produce sperm (known as azoospermia ), below-normal scores in any one category can often be offset by normal scores in the other categories. For example, if the man has a low percentage of motile sperm, but a high concentration of sperm, he can still produce enough motile sperm to fertilize an egg.
A parameter below normal in semen analysis is not a disqualifying for man to conceive naturally.