My journey into biological self-knowledge, documented in this series of posts, began with a new life that barely got started. That led to a semen analysis, which is a very peculiar experience…

A Difficult Beginning

After a second period of separation, my wife and I should finally have been together again. Except, the same day I got back, she had to leave to support her dad in hospital in China. He had liver cancer and would die in the summer.

The COVID-19 pandemic started about a week later. My wife barely managed to make it back.

As we were finally together again, we decided that it was high time to have the children we wanted.

Things seemed to go well, with happy news of her pregnancy in the summer.

The Miscarriage

Tragically, at the 12-week check-up, we learned that the fetus was dead. Imagine going to a routine check, in high hope, then being told that the fetus doesn’t move anymore. (Although, admittedly, my wife is so in tune with her body, she already thought something was amiss).

The experience is devastating.

It also opened my eyes to the prevalence of miscarriages. And it highlights the widespread ignorance surrounding reproductive health, worst of all in the politicization of abortions.

Miscarriages, a.k.a. spontaneous abortions, are incredibly common. Many of them probably occur before a woman even knows she’s pregnant. The rate of (known) miscarriages is easily 10-20% of pregnancies.

Most of those happen within the first 12 weeks, probably due to chromosomal abnormalities. Maternal health issues and lifestyle factors also contribute, and paternal health may be a factor, as well.

Thus, it’s likely to be a good thing in the grander scheme of things.

It’s a difficult time, nonetheless – and no one needs judgment or misinformation during such a time.

Nobody needs discussions about abortion as murder, least of all when miscarriages are lumped in together with “planned” abortions. (In quotes because I don’t think anyone really plans on having an abortion, it’s more likely a hard decision. Heck, even if it’s a necessary abortion, for a medical reason, it’s a tough decision to make.)

It was hard on us. I don’t want to even imagine what it’s like for a woman to have to decide about having an abortion.

We wondered if anything was wrong with us.

The Decision for a Semen Analysis

As my wife was still young and in good health, it was possible that I was the reason. After all, I’m quite a bit older than she is, and paternal age does matter.

Thus, we decided that I should get a semen analysis.

It’s a strange experience with lots of learning opportunities.

Facing Fertility Fears

First of all, one struggles with even getting the appointment. Do you really want to know for a fact what state your sperm is in? What do you do if it turns out that it’s not great?

“Fun” facts:

Poor quality sperm and low sperm counts are among the major causes of male fertility problems. Average sperm counts alone, for example, dropped by 59 percent over the past 38 years.

Sperm quality is, apparently, declining due to many factors. These include pollution, obesity (and nutrition more generally). Possibly, electromagnetic radiation from cellphones in front pockets isn’t good. Even the heat from working with a laptop in one’s lap may play a role.

Also, we think that age is a potential mother’s problem (and it is, to a larger extent). However, fertility and the likely health of offspring is also influenced by the father’s age.

If you want to delve really deeply into these issues:

There are potential epigenetic effects of a father’s lifestyle choices on children and even grandchildren.

Even the gut microbiome of the father may influence the disease risk in the offspring. Or at least, that has been shown in mice.

The Process

The only problem with the semen analysis itself is that it’s a decidely “Tell, don’t show”-thing.

Booking an appointment for it – once you finally get up the courage to do it – is just like any other doctor’s appointment.

The visit is similar, too – until you are led to a separate, more private, area.

Of course, the room where you prepare the sample to hand in is rather different. You find books and magazines and videos to help you.

You produce a load of ejaculate into the sample container. And you wonder: Is that enough? Is that a normal amount?

No Laughing Matters, But More Ignorance

People laugh – rightly, in my opinion – about men’s tendency to compare penis size/length.

It’s actually strange how little we really know about most of these things, though. Least of all, as seems quite usual, about the things that matter… which is not the length of a penis 😉

It’s not the number of times you have sex – and there is no necessary or optimal such number, either.

Of course, getting to a pregnancy does need sex. Unprotected and around the right time.

It’s truly laughable how there is locker room-talk about sex (and reproductive health-related issues?), but the “strong male sex” is so reluctant to seriously talk about sexuality and fertility.

Getting men to get checked? To open up to the personal vulnerability that it involves?

That’s all even harder.

Some Facts re. Semen (Analysis)

A normal amount of ejaculate, by the way, varies between 1.5 and 6.5 milliliters. That’s just around a teaspoonful.

A semen analysis also measures:

• concentration of sperm in the whole sample, i.e. how many there are per milliliter, with 20 – 40 million/ml being okay
• motility, i.e. the percentage of sperm that move, which should be at least above 32%, and
• morphology, i.e. sperm shape, where at least 20-30% should be shaped normally.

Well, the results of that checkup, for me, were all positive.

Ironically, we wouldn’t have needed them: They came back at the same time as a positive pregnancy test.

A New Perspective

In fact, we have gone from worrying if we had issues with fertility to worrying about accidental pregnancies.

Our second child was planned, but we conceived her much quicker than expected.

This whole experience pushed me to learn more about my health and about longevity.

As I’ve already written, it has given me new motivation to learn more and put things into practice.

There is still more to share about this journey of microexploration…