Making up for a low sperm count requires, first of all, that you rule out some specific sorts of causes for your low sperm count. It would be foolish to start the artificial insemination procedure, for example, if the low sperm count is caused by an infection, or by prescription drugs that the man might be taking. If the low sperm count is due to a varicocele, a simple surgery should very likely resolve the problem. If the sperm count is extremely low, there are procedures like Testicular Sperm Extraction or Microepididymal Sperm Aspiration, that may be able to procure a usable amount of sperm. Still, for men who have a very low sperm count and who cannot address the issue another way, artificial insemination or other fertility treatments may make up for their low sperm count.

The preferred fertility treatment when a man has a very low sperm count that cannot be addressed through less invasive measures is ICSI or intracytoplasmic sperm injection. This treatment does more than deliver the sperm to the uterus, which is what artificial insemination does. ICSI actually takes the sperm and delivers it into the middle of an egg, making it much more likely that the sperm will be able to fertilize the egg. Both artificial insemination and ICSI should also includes “washing” or spinning the sperm, to make sure that the most motile and the healthiest sperm are able to make it to the egg. There are other ancillary procedures, as well, that may be used to help concentrate the viable sperm to be used for insemination.

Ultimately, a medical evaluation is necessary to try to determine what exactly the cause of a low sperm count might be. A urologist or a fertility specialist can generally help to evaluate a man with fertility problems, and should be able to help develop an appropriate plan to try to make up for the low sperm count, whether it is through artificial insemination, ICSI, or whether it is with some other method altogether.

Posted in Trying to Get Pregnant

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