You've been trying for a long time.
Maybe it's been six months.
Maybe it's been a year, maybe it's been longer, but hopefully not, and you've been on Dr.
Google looking for answers trying to understand why it's not happening.
But have you looked at your partner?
Have you done a semen analysis?
Have you looked at the male side of things?
This is often the part of the equation that gets left out or ignored because we think
that everything is just fine.
In this video, I want to dive deeper into male factor fertility, what you can do to
improve it, how you can test for it so that you can get answers and know how to move forward.
My name is Dr. Marc Sklar, also known as The Fertility Expert and welcome to Fertility
TV, your YouTube channel dedicated to helping you get pregnant.
I've been working with couples for over 18 years.
Regardless of where you are in the world, I can support you through my online programs
or right here in San Diego at both of my clinics.
And one of the most common things that gets missed or ignored is male factor, looking
at the sperm.
So today's video is actually sponsored by Legacy, which is an at home semen analysis
testing company.
And I'm going to talk about that a little bit more in just a moment, but let's dive
deeper into male factor fertility and what you can do to improve it.
So often what I hear when we start talking about male factor is that, "My partner says
his sperm is just fine.
He doesn't want to test.
He says it's all me."
Well, the first thing that I want you all to recognize is 40% to 50% of the time, male
factor is a contributing factor if not a main issue on the fertility journey so it can't
be ignored, and let's not let our ego or machismo get in the way of getting real answers to
understand what's going on.
I can tell you countless stories of men who didn't get tested, finally got tested, and
we realized there was a problem that needs to be fixed.
So let's start with testing, because without testing we don't know what's going on, we
don't have answers, so we don't know what to do next.
One of the biggest concerns for men with testing is, "I've got to go into a clinic and I've
got to sit in the room and I've got to give a sample, and that's not really the most comfortable
way."
And what I'm here to tell you is that there is a more simple way to get this done.
Legacy has made it really, really simple.
And they're a real lab doing real testing with real answers.
It's not this little CVS test that you can get at the drug store that's going to tell
you maybe your sperm count is okay or not.
This gives you full parameters.
So, first and foremost, let's talk about why testing is so important.
Testing is important because we need to know what's going on with your sperm.
I've done many videos on what are the actual parameters that we need for male factor.
The main things that we're looking at are volume, concentration, count, motility, morphology.
Those are the main numbers that we're looking at, and Legacy tests them all, which is wonderful.
The best thing about it is that you can collect from the comfort of your own home, and that
makes things so much easier, so much more simple for all of you who, quite frankly,
didn't want to go into a doctor's office and collect in a little dark room.
So let's talk about the test itself, which is really simple to collect.
One of the beautiful things is they send you everything in this box and it's reusable.
You put the kit back into this and ship it back to them, which is awesome.
I love that piece of it, because we get to recycle something.
Then it comes in this simple box right here where you're going to do the collection, and
actually before that, I want to show you that you're actually going to write down all your
information right on this.
So you don't even have to take a piece of paper out and potentially lose it.
It's all right here.
You just write your information so that when you send it back and seal it, it's good to
go.
They have everything they need.
And then it's relatively simple from there.
You have this simple box right here.
It comes with a postage stamp to put back on that original black box that I showed you.
It comes with all the instructions right here.
Make sure you read through these very carefully before you start to use it so you know what
you're doing.
And then you get to securely seal it right here.
And it's all step-by-step laid out for you.
And there's really primarily only two steps that you need, collection and this fluid that's
going to keep your sperm safe while it's in transit.
And that's it.
Everything goes back into this box, gets put back into the main shipping box, and gets
sent out.
And within three days, you're going to get a secure email to log in and get your secure
results that's HIPAA compliant with all the information you need, all the report and analysis
right there.
And on top of it, they're going to allow you to speak to a fertility specialist to review
your results just so that you understand what they mean and what you need to do to move
forward with that.
All of that's included in the price of the kit, which is awesome and very, very reasonable.
On top of that, they're going to cryo-preserve, which means they're going to freeze your sperm
sample, for up to seven days so that you can decide if you actually want to save the sperm
on your end to use potentially in the future, which is a great benefit as well.
And I'm going to talk a little bit more about the importance of freezing or the potential
reason why you might want to freeze in just a moment.
Before I do that, let's get into point number two.
So once you have this information and you know what's going on, now you could make changes
on your end.
And this is really, really valuable, because now you know what you need to do, or more
importantly, what you need to take.
Everybody asks, "What supplements should I be taking?"
Well, once you know what your results show you, you know how to move forward with a supplement
plan for yourself.
I discuss in many, many other videos what supplements you can start to incorporate into
your male fertility plan and what you can look at in terms of what are the right nutrients
that you're looking for in those supplements.
If you want to check out the supplements that I recommend, I'm going to leave that link
in the description below as well so that you can check that out in the future.
Number three, listen to your body.
Most men go through the day, go through life with ignoring what our body is telling us.
"I've got a little ache and pain here.
No big deal.
I'm going to ignore it."
"I don't feel so good.
I'm going to push through."
What I want all of you to do is take a step back.
Take an account of what's going on in your body.
What is your body telling you that maybe you need to start to pay more attention to?
Our body tells us what's going on.
Do you have any pain anywhere that might need a little bit more attention?
Are you feeling okay?
Do you have enough energy to make it through the day?
Is your digestion functioning properly?
These are all things that impact your overall health and in the longterm, your fertility.
And what I often find is that your health is a reflection of your fertility.
If you've got enough energy, you're sleeping well, vitality's great, you feel strong enough,
everything's functioning well, then your fertility, your sperm quality is probably going to be
okay.
But if any of those areas are having issues, then odds are that your sperm quality is going
to suffer.
The other thing I want you to pay attention to is, do you have any pain in the scrotum
or testicles?
Often, these are signs that there is something else going on, and this can impact your fertility
as well.
So pay attention to your body.
We want to understand what it's telling us, and more importantly, listen.
Stop ignoring what your body's telling you.
Pay a little bit more attention and be a little bit more proactive in your overall health,
and in this case, in your fertility.
We often think that fertility is a female issue.
I'm not saying that there aren't areas there that need to be paid attention to, but, men,
you need to start to step up, take more responsibility for your health and your fertility, and take
action.
And getting tested, getting a semen analysis is the first step in that process.
The fourth step is, don't rush into IVF.
I know that might sound like a strange step, but it's an important step.
And here is why.
What I often hear is that the women in the relationship want to try all sorts of different
things to improve their fertility and make changes.
The men are just looking for solutions.
You just want to help the problem, move on, and get going.
Often, they're suggested is IVF.
I want all of you to take a step back.
Before you decide that you need IVF or that you should move forward with IVF, take responsibility
for your own health and your own fertility.
Have you been tested as a man?
Have you had a semen analysis done?
Do you know what it means?
And if the reports come back abnormal in some way, have you stepped up to the plate and
taken action to make change?
That's what should be happening now.
So, if your answer to the fertility problem is moving forward with IVF, I want you to
take a step back, put a pause on that, and get answers to know if you're having any issues
on your side and then step up and make changes so that we can see a proper semen analysis,
a good, healthy improvement, so that you actually have a chance to conceive naturally.
And number five, last but not least, is freeze your sperm for the future.
Now, some of you may not have thought that this is an important step, but we don't know
what the future holds.
And I've heard many, many men and women say they wish they would have frozen their eggs
or their sperm in the past so that they had those younger quality sperm and egg to use
in the future.
Well, Legacy makes that very easy for you, because once you give your sample to get numbers
and get answers, they make it easy for you to freeze your sample as well and hold on
to it for the future in case you need it.
This is an insurance policy.
So while you're giving a sample to get answers, I want you all to contemplate freezing your
sperm as well, because that can give you insurance for the future.
And if you don't need it, then in the future you can make that decision to move on from
it.
But at least you have it as an as insurance policy so that you know in case you need a
good quality sperm sample, you have it frozen and ready to go.
And one of the other things that I do want to mention about Legacy that I really love,
it could be my favorite thing actually about the company, is that they also offer DNA fragmentation
testing.
Now, up until now, there have been very few options for men to do a DNA fragmentation
test, especially at home, without an order from your physician or primary.
Now, Legacy makes it not only easy to get a full semen analysis but to add on a DNA
fragmentation test.
And this is key because, if you have had a history, you and your partner have had a history
of miscarriage, then often this is the test that I recommend for men, and it's often ignored.
This tells you the quality of the DNA of the sperm that you are producing, and if that
quality is not good, we need to start to make changes and impact that to improve it.
So without knowing what that is, you don't know if you need to address that.
So this is an important variable if you want that answer, and I suggest all of you, if
you're doing a semen analysis now with Legacy, you add the DNA fragmentation on as well.
So that was my little extra tip because I think it's a wonderful option that is not
often possible for most of you.
So, again, a reminder, if you've been trying for six to 12 months, you haven't done a semen
analysis, I want you all to take a step back, click on the link in the description below
to get your kit of Legacy so that you can get answers and know now for certain what
your sperm quality is and what you need to do about it.
Also, I want you all to know that if you need more support and more help on your fertility
journeys, my team and I are here for you.
If you want to see if you qualify for a discovery call to work with me and my team, use the
link in the description below to apply.
Now, I want to hear from all of you, what did you find useful about this video?
Comment below and let me know.
Do you think that the Legacy kit is something that you can use and find helpful?
Again, comment below and let me know.
And by the way, when you post a comment below, it allows this video to be seen by so many
other couples who need this information and need more support on their fertility journeys.
So your comment is actually helping couples get pregnant.
How cool is that?
So comment below, let me know what you liked about the video and if you're going to use
this Legacy kit to get answers.
If you liked this video, give me a thumbs up.
If you are not a subscriber to my YouTube channel, then make sure you subscribe so you
can find out when I put out my next video for all of you.
Until the next video, I want you all to stay safe, stay healthy, and most of all, stay
fertile.