If you have been married for two years and are infertile, most of the patients are a little nervous and always try to find some way to go to the doctor, but of course, each of them will take different methods, but most of them know that semen testing is required. What are the issues to be aware of? Not every patient understands this, and there are often many jokes, some of which are bitter, but also tell people the ABCs of semen testing from another level. The Story of Frozen Semen A patient came to my clinic not long ago, a woman in her thirties, “Can you test your semen?” I looked at her and asked if she was testing her lover? She nodded, “Did you bring it in?” I asked softly, “I did, I just took it out of the fridge.” I was in a state of shock, “From the fridge? When was the semen? Sure enough, she told me it was from ten days ago. Oh my God, semen that was in the fridge ten days ago to be tested? What was the test for? I have never encountered such a situation in my 10 years of medical practice. So I joked with her and said: no need to test, I’ll tell you the result, all the sperm died. She froze for a moment, suddenly awakened, and even said; wrong! Wrong! Why would she take frozen semen to the lab? The reason is that she had heard about sperm banks, but she didn’t know that sperm freezing in a sperm bank and sperm freezing in a refrigerator at home are two different concepts. I asked when she took it out, and she told me it was the result of a joint effort last night. That means the specimen has been there for more than ten hours, I joked, your family probably buy shrimp today and eat tomorrow? The woman blurted out, “Who would live shrimp do not eat, eat dead shrimp,” and then suddenly realized something and said, “There is a number, there is a number. The other day, a couple came to my clinic and asked me to take a look at the lab report. I took a look and found that the sperm count was okay, but the viability was poor, and in our terminology, it was weak sperm. But instead of jumping to conclusions, I asked him where the sperm was taken? What was the method of sperm retrieval? He told me that he took it at home, and that he did not take any warming measures because of the low temperature that day. I told him that this test might not be credible because the sperm might be cold on the way to the hospital and might be less active or even dead. I suggested another test, and the patient followed my advice. An hour later, a new test report came out, showing that the sperm count and viability were normal, avoiding a misdiagnosis. The above-mentioned are just a few of the “typical” cases where sperm cannot be tested after retrieval, but to test semen is not something that can be tested whenever you want, but there are certain conditions, namely the time of sperm retrieval, the amount of sperm retrieved, the way sperm is retrieved and the preservation of sperm after retrieval. In short, the time of sperm retrieval should be within 1 hour; the amount of sperm retrieved emphasizes all the collection; the best way to retrieve sperm is hand masturbation; and the sperm must be protected against hypothermia after retrieval. Therefore, we generally request that patients who want to have their semen tested preferably use the hand masturbation method to retrieve semen on site within the hospital. At the same time, stop ejaculating 3 to 5 days before sperm retrieval. If it is the first time, the test can also be based on the usual frequency of conjugal life to truly reflect the usual semen quality. If you cannot take sperm in the hospital, you can also take it at home, but you must meet the above requirements. Otherwise, it is a waste of time and energy as well as resources.