After sitting in the waiting room came the walk along the corridor to the changing room to put on scrubs – which I was later told feels like the "walk of shame" for most men. It certainly caused me some anxiety. It inspired the seemingly inevitable thought: "Could something be wrong with me?"
I was visiting the Trinidad and Tobago IVF and Fertility Centre in Maraval, where I got to sit with science director and embryologist Natalie Jess and fertility nurse, andrology technician, phlebotomy technician and patient support group co-ordinator Gabrielle Rodney.
And, being a man, I got a first-hand experience of sperm analysis.
Asked how I felt, I told Rodney, "I'm definitely trying to be mentally prepared for whatever story might unfold here."
[caption id="attachment_903125" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Marshelle Haseley in the andrology lab at Trinidad and Tobago IVF and Fertility Centre -[/caption]
Getting the sample, which I took for granted was the easiest part, is in fact, according to Rodney, sometimes another challenging part of the emotionally enormous process for many men.
She said even producing a sample can mean 30 minutes or as much as an hour of nerves. For most men, even a visit to the centre only happens after having experienced conception challenges for some time. Jess and Rodney said in most cases, men come in after having tried to conceive for a while, and a sperm test isn't the first check.
The reluctance to be tested, Rodney said, may have much to do with the culture of the region – and the idea that less-than-perfect sperm health may be linked to being "a real man."
Asked if the centre has a in-house psychotherapist to help men with the mental enormity of the process, Jess said arrangements are made for men to speak with therapists, especially if treatment such as IVF becomes an option.
Jess said the anxiety men experience is usually intensified by the wait. Unlike my experience of going for testing, men usually give their samples, then wait a number of days for their results.
Rodney said the amount of sperm and its physical features help determine sperm health.
She explained the three basic parts of sperm; the head, which houses the nucleus where genetic coding/DNA is held, is capped by the enzyme containing acrosome that dissolves the egg; the midpiece, with the mitochondria which produces energy; and finally, the tail, which works as a propeller.
[caption id="attachment_903126" align="alignnone" width="768"] THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS: The Andrology lab is where tests are done to detect disease or conditions specific to men. - Photo by Marshelle Haseley[/caption]
Rodney said the health of sperm is also determined, in part, by the average number found in semen without defects to these physiological parts. It is normal for men to find defects in some sperm.
"When doing sperm analyses we check for the sperm count; count of the motility, which refers to its ability to swim; and check the shapes. The three tests tell if sperm is normal or if there might be an issue."
