A little caution about the at home S/A kits... And this is strickly my opinion, I've never had any experience with them so take it for what it's worth

I think that they only detect count and motility, there are other factors that can cause the sperm that DH does have to be ineffective. Plus after reading the information about these tests they seem a little complicated.

The test can be bought at Early Pregnancy Tests and Ovulation Predictor Kits for Home Use for about $80 (I've checked with the admins about posting this site a while back).

When you consider that most S/As (especially the first) are covered by insurance and you only pay an office co-pay and the sample can be collected at home then driven to the lab (which would be no different than this at home test), it really (to me) makes more sense to leave it to the pros and be sure that you get all of the results and that they are accurate.

I guess coming from a couple who suffers severe MFI it just seems like such an important test that an at home version might lead to misinformation.

Ok, there's my

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Thanks, Mandy - I have to agree with you on this one! The at home tests don't give you an exact count - they just can detect some moving sperm, and give you a "high/low" kind of response, but it isn't always accurate. You can be told it is all good when it isn't, or that it is bad when it isn't.

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I know that our ENTIRE TTC path took a turn when we got the results of our first S/A and I would hate to think that those results were wrong and that we "took a wrong turn" leading to wasted time.

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I agree with you. I was hoping someone would post this. I have to be skeptical myself and I would rather leave that to the pros and get a FULL report on what the swimmers are doing.

Thanks for the post Mandy.

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Thanks for posting this! I was actually considering buying an at-home s/a kit, but now I think I'll hold off on that. Thanks for the info!! I'll leave all that to the pros.

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speaking of...i think that DH is depositing a sample as i type this. i arranged his torrid affair with a cup now so that the results are ready when we have our f/u with REI in june. i think he's a little excited to see how virile he thinks he is...men...

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TTC since July 2007-off bcp! but not ovulating and irregular cys

March '08: REI consult, dx with PCOS. DH is good-no MFI!
March-June: clomid-no O
June: injectibles, no luck =(
July: officially reached 1 yr TTC mark =( =(
August: taking a break from meds and the hit to the wallet they cause. =( =( =(
Will try injectibles again in '09 (if we need to fingers crossed =)

When will you get the results?

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mandy-i actually just posted part of them. DH gave me to A-ok to look into his med record at work to get them-i think they look good so far from what i can tell compared to the normal ranges!

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TTC since July 2007-off bcp! but not ovulating and irregular cys

March '08: REI consult, dx with PCOS. DH is good-no MFI!
March-June: clomid-no O
June: injectibles, no luck =(
July: officially reached 1 yr TTC mark =( =(
August: taking a break from meds and the hit to the wallet they cause. =( =( =(
Will try injectibles again in '09 (if we need to fingers crossed =)