Patient's question:
I have had photocoagulation, ovulation monitoring, hormone tests, and semen tests, all of which were normal. The doctor asked me to do a post-coital test. What is this test? Is it related to semen antibodies? Why would there be antibodies?Doctor's answer:
1. Post-coital test is one of the examinations for infertility. It refers to a compatibility test between sperm and cervical mucus.2. The test is conducted at the time when cervical mucus is most favorable for sperm passage, which is 1–2 days before the woman's ovulation period.
3. The method is as follows: The couple engages in sexual intercourse and then lies flat for half an hour. Then, within 2 to 4 hours, the doctor collects the wife's cervical mucus and observes it under a microscope to calculate how many active sperm have entered the mucus. If more than 20 live sperm are observed in each high-power field under the microscope, the result is considered normal. If no sperm enter the mucus or all the sperm that do enter are dead, it indicates that the wife's cervical mucus is not conducive to the survival of her husband's sperm, or that there is some substance (antibody) in the mucus that renders the sperm inactive. The cause of infertility may be related to this.
4. After identifying the cause of infertility through the post-coital test, targeted treatment can be administered.