# How Do They Count Sperm? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835 "2005-11-13T07:00:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/1 "2005-11-13T07:00:31Z")
How do they count sperm in fertility samples? Is there some guy out there who sits around all day and counts, or do they scan it with a machine somehow? ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/2 "2005-11-13T09:29:16Z")
There’s a procedure from a lab I did in college that involved counting extracted nuclei that I think could be the way they count sperm at fertility clinics. A small amount of the sample would be placed on a specially made slide with a grid on it. You calculate sperm density by counting the sperm in a given area and then using the volume of the sample (usually a mililiter) to determine the count. I can’t definitively verify that this is how it’s done, but the method is pretty solid. Wikipedia’s got nothing, and a google search turns up so many fertility faqs that it’s damned near impossible to filter through them. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/3 "2005-11-13T09:58:41Z")
There are machines called Fluorescent-Activated Cell Sorters (FACS machines, pronounced “fax”) that can automatically count and sort large numbers of individual cells that have been tagged with fluorescent labels. I have absolutely no idea if they’re used for sperm counts. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/4 "2005-11-13T10:04:45Z")
Show of hands. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/5 "2005-11-13T10:13:52Z")
I just pray that our hospital doesn’t send the samples to Florida for counting ---
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/6 "2005-11-13T11:41:15Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > There’s a procedure from a lab I did in college that involved counting extracted nuclei that I think could be the way they count sperm at fertility clinics. A small amount of the sample would be placed on a specially made slide with a grid on it. You calculate sperm density by counting the sperm in a given area and then using the volume of the sample (usually a mililiter) to determine the count. This is how it was done by the lab that I was going to when my wife and I were going through fertility testing and treatments. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/7 "2005-11-13T12:26:51Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > How do they count sperm in fertility samples? Is there some guy out there who sits around all day and counts…\…? I see the makings of another one of those power ballad Bud Light commercials… _Everyday, making sure all those microscopic squigglies get counted…_ _Mr. Fertility Sample Sperm Counter!_ _Hats off to you, Mr. Fertility Sample Sperm Counter!_ _Making sure that spunk is gooood!_ ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/8 "2005-11-13T17:56:19Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > I see the makings of another one of those power ballad Bud Light commercials… > _Everyday, making sure all those microscopic squigglies get counted…_ > > _Mr. Fertility Sample Sperm Counter!_ > > _Hats off to you, Mr. Fertility Sample Sperm Counter!_ > > _Making sure that spunk is gooood!_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/9 "2005-11-13T18:43:28Z")
I use a pretty standard Olympus microscope at work and I, uh… _checked_ it out. A regular glass slide and cover slip, and there were all my little swimmers. If there were a grid on the lens, they wouldn’t be hard to count at all. They’re faster than I’d thought. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/10 "2005-11-13T19:48:09Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > There’s a procedure from a lab I did in college that involved counting extracted nuclei that I think could be the way they count sperm at fertility clinics. A small amount of the sample would be placed on a specially made slide with a grid on it. You calculate sperm density by counting the sperm in a given area and then using the volume of the sample (usually a mililiter) to determine the count. Is this also how it’s done for a mans post-vasectomy tests? ---
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-count-sperm/330835/11 "2005-11-13T20:26:48Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Is this also how it’s done for a mans post-vasectomy tests? I would imagine. The difference between a post-vasectomy count and a fertility count is that with a post-vasectomy count, you’re generally not worried about things like motility. You just want to know whether they’re there or not.