Men who want to know how potent their sperm are can now find out on the high street if they are willing to pay £150.
Superdrug has started offering a “male fertility service” today.
Men pay for a standard sperm test, similar to those already sold in private clinics, which is delivered to their home.
Couriers collect the samples and take them to a lab where the semen is placed under a microscope.
Doctors look at the quantity, quality, motility – how quickly and efficiently sperm can move – and volume.
A breakdown of the results is then available within 48 hours, corresponding to the time it takes for a Covid PCR test to come back.
Men can access Superdrug’s medical team to ask questions about their results and any next steps they need to take.
Superdrug today started offering the first-ever “male fertility service” on the high street. Men pay for a standard sperm test — similar to the ones already sold at pharmacies — delivered to their home. Couriers collect the samples and take them to a lab where the semen is placed under a microscope
Superdrug said its test, which it claims is the first of its kind available on high street, will help men “easier to access information about their own fertility and take greater control of their reproductive health.”
Men can get the tests, which cost £148, online. They are not available in stores.
Lab technicians report on 22 different parameters.
These include how much sperm is in the sample, how well the sperm can move, how much sperm is in the semen, and the quality of the semen – indicating how many look normal and abnormal.
Customers will then have unlimited access to Superdrug’s online doctors – a team of “highly trained” General Medical Council registered physicians – who share the results and answer questions about the test, results and next steps.
If the results are abnormal, the medical team can advise on how to improve sperm quality or where you can get help to increase the chances of pregnancy.
dr. Babak Ashrafi, one of Superdrug’s online doctors, noted that the NHS advises people to try to conceive for 12 months before approaching their GP.
He said: ‘A year can make a difference to fertility levels, so the sooner you know, the sooner you can act.
“This is a discreet and convenient service and for people trying to conceive, these test results can help provide answers and point them in the right direction.”
Caris Newson, Superdrug’s health director, said the new fertility testing service makes it “as easy as possible” for men to receive advice, support and a “better informed understanding of their fertility.”
Superdrug said the results “give both the patient and a clinician a clear understanding of the sample’s analysis and its implications for fertility, rather than simply finding out if sperm count is low.”
This means it can be used for referrals or assessments with a fertility specialist, as the test is “similar to a World Health Organization or NHS test,” the pharmacy said.
Professor Allan Pacey, an andrologist at the University of Sheffield and former president of the British Fertility Society, told MailOnline that home fertility tests for men, in addition to those done in clinics, are a good move.
He said the approach makes it more likely that a man will produce a sperm sample, need no time off, and may be greener because less travel is required.
Clinics often require men to make samples on the spot, where they are analyzed.
However, Professor Pacey said it is unclear which system or test method will be the most successful.
He said: ‘Over the years, a number of different approaches to at-home sperm testing have been launched, some of which still exist and others that have come and gone.
“I think it’s true that Superdrug’s service is the first where samples have been couriered from the man’s house and shipped (presumably) to a lab somewhere.
‘I have no idea if this will work, produce good test results and become a commercial success. Time will tell.
‘The cost of £148 sounds about on par with what I’d expect from a private lab semen analysis, so their margins must be pretty tight.
‘Men can get a free semen analysis from the NHS, of course, but only if they’ve been trying to conceive with their partner for 12 months without success.
‘An important part of this for me is the aftercare and it’s reassuring to see that the men have unrestricted access to discuss their results with the Superdrug doctors.
“But I’d like to know what training they have to deal with male fertility issues, which can be quite complex. But in general I wish them success with the business.’
Sperm tests are already available from Boots, Lloyds Pharmacy and online for around £30. They claim to give accurate results in minutes.
However, these only check the quality of the sperm and the number. Experts have told MailOnline before that they don’t contextualize the results.
They warned that all test results from tests sold online “should be carefully confirmed and discussed with healthcare professionals.”
Superdrug’s offerings come amid a slump in global sperm levels.
Reproduction experts have sounded the alarm that declining sperm counts ‘could endanger human survival’.
dr. Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, wrote a groundbreaking 2017 study that found that global sperm counts have fallen by more than half in the past four decades.
She warned that “chemicals everywhere,” such as phthalates found in toiletries, food packaging and children’s toys, are to blame.
The chemicals cause hormonal imbalance that can wreak “reproductive havoc,” she said.
Factors such as pollution, smoking and rising obesity may also play a role, experts say.