Posts
Trying to Conceive for 6 Months? Here Is What to Do Next
Six months of trying to conceive and no positive test. It's a frustrating place to be - and a completely understandable one to want answers from. The good news: at six months, most couples are still within the statistically normal range. But that doesn't mean you have to just wait and see. There are practical steps worth taking now, starting with the one that's most often overlooked - checking sperm health.
Learn more
What Treatment Options Exist for Male Sub-fertility?
It is common for couples to initially focus on lifestyle changes to improve sperm quality. However, if semen quality remains suboptimal, or if a specific issue is diagnosed regarding male sub-fertility, there are still a wide range of effective clinical treatment options available. Understanding these options is a key part of the male fertility journey. According to major health bodies like the NHS and the HFEA, treatments generally fall into three main categories: Medicinal Treatments, Surgical Treatments, and Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART). 1. Medicinal Treatments for Male Infertility For specific hormonal issues, medication can often stimulate or support sperm production. Gonadotropin Therapy: This is a common medicinal treatment offered to men with identified hormonal imbalances. Gonadotropins are hormones that stimulate the testes to produce testosterone and, crucially, stimulate sperm production. To determine if this treatment is suitable, your doctor will first measure your gonadotropin hormone levels via a simple blood test. If levels are low, therapy may be used to boost the supply of healthy sperm. 2. Surgical Treatments for Male Sub-fertility Surgical interventions focus on correcting blockages or retrieving sperm directly for use in assisted conception. Correcting Blockages (Sperm Transport Issues) Blockages can sometimes occur in the epididymis — the small tube within the testicles that stores and transports sperm. Surgery can be performed to open these blockages and restore the natural pathway for ejaculation. These minor procedures are typically performed under a local anaesthetic and usually take a few hours. Surgical Sperm Retrieval Sperm retrieval is necessary when sperm is being produced but cannot naturally leave the body. This is often the case if there is an irreparable blockage, the man was born without the vas deferens, or there has been a vasectomy or an unsuccessful vasectomy reversal. The sperm is surgically retrieved from the testicle tissue, assessed for quality, and usually frozen for future use in IVF or ICSI. 3. Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) ART is an umbrella term for fertility treatments where eggs and sperm are handled outside the body to increase the chance of conception, with guidelines provided by bodies like NICE and the British Fertility Society. Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) Also known as artificial insemination, IUI is a less invasive option often recommended when sperm count is slightly low or for unexplained infertility. Sperm is washed and concentrated, then inserted directly into the woman's womb via a thin, flexible plastic tube during her fertile window. In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) IVF is the controlled process of fertilisation outside the body. Eggs are retrieved from the ovaries and combined with sperm in a laboratory setting. A successfully fertilised egg (embryo) is then transferred back into the womb. ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection): A specialised form of IVF often used for severe male factor infertility. Instead of simply mixing sperm with the egg, a single, healthy sperm is selected and directly injected into the egg. Sperm Donation Sperm donation involves using sperm from a donor to fertilise the egg, usually via IUI or IVF. This option is considered when male factor issues are severe or untreatable. Your Next Step: Knowledge is Treatment Before exploring these clinical options, your healthcare provider needs clear data. This is where a reliable semen analysis is critical. If you are just beginning to investigate male subfertility, understanding your sperm count, motility, and morphology is the essential starting point that determines which treatment path, if any, is right for you. Sources NHS: General information on Infertility — nhs.uk NICE: Clinical Guidelines on Fertility Assessment and Treatment — nice.org.uk Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) — hfea.gov.uk British Fertility Society (BFS) — britishfertilitysociety.org.uk
Learn more
Starting the Journey: Facing the Unknowns of Fertility
Working for Malebox in the fertility space has changed how I think about getting pregnant. Knowing more about fertility challenges and conception rates made me realise that it might not be as straightforward as I once assumed. Hearing friends share their own fertility journeys helped me feel less alone as my wife and I started ours. We agreed to take a low-pressure approach and focus on keeping things natural, hoping to protect our relationship from the stress that often comes with trying to conceive. About a month after my wife stopped using contraception, she took a pregnancy test. It was positive. We were thrilled and a bit shocked because it happened much sooner than we expected. We told close family and friends, even though we were aware of the usual advice to wait until 12 weeks. A short time later, some unexpected bleeding took us to the clinic. The scan showed that the gestational sac was smaller than it should have been. A couple of hours later, we were told we had experienced a miscarriage. Navigating the Challenges: Balancing Hope and Disappointment Even though I understood how common miscarriage is, the reality still hit hard. Well-meaning reminders about how often it happens did little to ease the emotional weight of it. Instead of jumping straight back into trying again, we decided to take the summer off and simply enjoy life. I felt quietly relieved that we had begun our fertility journey when we did. At 31, the awareness of age and its impact on fertility was in the back of my mind, especially for my wife. Through my work at Malebox, I had been involved in male fertility research and had tested my own sperm several times. I still remember the anxiety of waiting for that first result. My uncle had struggled with infertility — my dad once explained it by saying he had issues with his "squiggly tails", a simple reference to sperm morphology. That bit of family history definitely added to my worry. My results were usually positive, although none of those early tests measured morphology, so some uncertainty always stayed with me. Month after month, my wife's period was a reminder of another missed opportunity. I tried to stay positive and kept telling myself that we had conceived once, so surely it could happen again. I was determined not to let sex become too scheduled or mechanical, although this was difficult around ovulation. My wife tracked her cycle with an app, but announcing "it's time" felt too pressurised. We started using a small chilli emoji in our shared calendar instead. It sounds silly, but it helped us communicate without taking the joy out of intimacy. Finding a Way Forward: Resilience, Research and a Bit of Luck As part of product development at work, I volunteered to have my sperm analysed properly in a clinic. I'm glad I did, because it showed me how valuable accurate at-home sperm testing could be. The results revealed that my sperm morphology was lower than expected, which raised new questions about whether male fertility might be playing a role in our difficulty conceiving. Four months later, we saw another positive pregnancy test. This time we stayed cautious and tried not to let ourselves get carried away too quickly. So far everything has been going smoothly, and I feel incredibly grateful for that. This journey has had its challenges, but I know many people face much tougher ones. The more I learn about fertility, sperm health and conception, the more I realise how much luck, timing and patience influence the outcome — whether through natural conception or IVF. What has helped us most is staying honest with each other, taking breaks when needed and remembering that no two fertility journeys look the same.
Learn more
The Sperm Life Cycle Explained
Sperm production is something most men rarely think about, yet it’s happening constantly behind the scenes. From the moment puberty begins, your body is working on a continuous cycle that takes over two months to complete. But while production never stops, quality doesn’t stay the same forever. Factors like age, lifestyle, and overall health can all influence how well sperm develop, move, and function. Understanding how spermatogenesis works and what affects it can give you a clearer picture of your fertility, energy, and long-term health. Whether you're trying to conceive or simply want to optimise your performance, knowing what’s happening inside your body is the first step toward improving it.
Learn more