The Male Factor in Fertility and Infertility. II. Spermatozoön Counts in 1000 Men of Known Fertility and in 1000 Cases of Infertile Marriage.

Abstract

Spermatozoon counts in 1000 men of known fertility and in 1000 cases of infertile marriage were studied to determine the lowest semen standar ds compatible with relative ease of conception. The mean volume of ejaculate for fertile men was 3.4 cc and 3.7 cc for infertile men. 5% of fertile men had sperm counts under 20 million/cc while 16% of the infertile fell into this catagory. Peak for the infertile group was less than 20 million/cc while the modal count class for the fertile group was 60-80 million/cc. 50% of the infertile men had counts of 74 million/cc or less while half of the fertile men had counts over 90 million. In studying the infertile group 8% of the group with a previous conception had sperm counts under 20 million/cc while 19% of the nonconception group had this count. At the 95% level of confidence the minimum standard for fertility based only on sperm counts was 20 million/cc. In the 1000 fertile specimens the relationship between ejaculate volume and sperm counts was insignificant. There was a highly significant relationship between volume and count in the infertile group. The essential difference between fertile and infertile lies at a low sperm count level. However above this level fertility and sperm count increase inconsistently.