Perceptions on Conception

Highlights of a Survey Conducted for SpermCheck® Fertility

Asks Women about Their Perceptions on Male Infertility and Conception

This year, approximately 7 million couples will experience conception issues and about 50% of these infertility problems will be directly attributed to the male, according to John Herr, Ph.D., director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Research in Contraceptive and Reproductive Health*. And most male infertility problems are mainly due to low sperm count, he adds.

Yet women are typically the ones to take action when conception is slow to happen, often undergoing a battery of sometimes invasive and typically costly testing. While it’s a key simple first step — analyzing the male’s sperm count — less than one-fifth of men (17%) ever get tested for their sperm count, according to a recent survey conducted for the maker of SpermCheck® Fertility.

The maker of SpermCheck® Fertility, a new over-the-counter FDA-approved, at-home sperm count screening test available nationwide from major retailers, wanted to learn more about women’s perceptions on male infertility, conception and the impact they have on relationships. The following are highlights of this survey conducted in January 2012 for SpermCheck by Persuadable Research Corporation. The sample was randomly drawn from a national list of women 18-44 who had a child within the last five years or were planning or trying to get pregnant; 300 interviews were conducted and participants were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with various statements:

Conception planning and preparation sometimes differs before and after conception:

• Women trying/planning to conceive overwhelmingly say they want to do everything they can to get themselves as healthy as possible (81) compared with half of women who’ve already conceived (54%) who said they wanted to get as healthy as possible; nearly two thirds (64%) of those trying/planning said their partner would do everything he could to get as healthy as possible, yet only 23% of women who have conceived said their partner actually did everything he could to get himself as healthy as possible before they started trying
• 43% of those trying/planning to get pregnant believe their partners would like to know that their sperm count is normal while only a quarter (29%) of those who’ve conceived already agreed with this; 83% of those trying/planning said their partner assumed he was fertile compared with 75% of those who’ve conceived
• More than two-thirds of women (67%) trying/planning to conceive say they would like to know their partner’s sperm count is normal, compared with one third of those who’ve conceived already
• Nearly two thirds of those who’ve conceived (65%) thought they would conceive right away because they were overall healthy compared with the less confident group of those trying/planning to conceive – only 59% of this group feels this way

Fertility worries:

• A little less than half (44%) of those trying/planning to conceive are worried that they tried so hard for years to not get pregnant, that when they actually want to, they won’t be able to conceive
• Approximately two out of 10 women (21%) trying/planning to conceive say that infertility is usually a woman’s problem and the same number never considered that men could have issues with fertility
• Nearly six out of ten (59%) of those trying/planning to conceive say they won’t tell people they are trying in case it doesn’t happen
• 42% of those who conceived say they became obsessed with getting pregnant once they started trying, yet just 10% say their partner became obsessed

Fertility reluctance:

• Almost half (49%) of women who took longer than expected to conceive indicated their significant other was not very eager to have his sperm count tested
• 23% of women would not seek advice or testing for their significant other if it was taking longer to get pregnant than expected
• More than a quarter (26%) of those trying/planning to conceive are embarrassed to discuss fertility with friends and family and a similar number 27% say their partner is uncomfortable discussing male fertility issues

Conceptions perceptions:

How fertility and conceiving a child affect relationships: Perceptions before (trying/planning to get pregnant) and after having conceived were quite different on this topic:

*Dr. Herr is the inventor of SpermCheck® Fertility, a 10-minute, FDA approved, at home sperm count screening test that shows if a man’s sperm count is normal or low and is available at major retailers.