Sperm Analysis & DNA Fragmentation

About the Sperm Analysis & DNA Fragmentation test

A standard semen analysis counts sperm, measures how they move, and describes their shape. The Sperm Analysis & DNA Fragmentation panel reports all of that. It then adds the DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI), the share of sperm carrying broken DNA strands. Sperm can look ordinary under a microscope, swim well, and still carry damaged genetic material.

Sperm health is half of the fertility equation, and it is the half that tends to get checked last. Male factors are involved in about half of infertility cases. Eleven markers come back from one sample you collect at home, with results posted to your Superpower account.

What this panel measures

One sample, read six ways: DNA integrity, immune factors, count, movement, shape, and sample quality. Each answers a different question about how sperm are produced, how they travel, and what genetic material they carry. All eleven markers are reported together. The DNA result and the conventional parameters arrive as one picture, not across two appointments.

Standard semen analysis vs. DNA fragmentation

A standard semen analysis describes the population. How many sperm there are, how many swim forward, and how many are shaped the way a laboratory expects. A DNA fragmentation result describes something else entirely, the condition of the genetic material packed inside those sperm.

The two measurements answer different questions. A fragmentation index is not strongly correlated with conventional semen parameters. A report can read unremarkable on count, movement, and shape while DNA integrity has not been assessed at all.

Read the result as information rather than a verdict. A fragmentation percentage is one input a provider weighs alongside the rest of a couple's workup.

What raises sperm DNA fragmentation

Several conditions and exposures are associated with higher fragmentation, and a few of them are worth raising with your provider.

• Varicocele and infections of the genital tract.
• A recent fever or sustained heat exposure.
• Smoking and excess body weight.
• Advancing age.
• Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and environmental or occupational toxicant exposure.

What this test does not cover

Confirming that a vasectomy worked needs a clinician-ordered test, and this panel is not that test. Documentation for an IVF or IUI cycle belongs with the clinic running the cycle. Results from this panel are something you bring to that conversation, not a replacement for it. Hormone questions need a different sample entirely: testosterone, FSH, and LH are read from blood, not from semen.

Who benefits from testing

Anyone whose fertility picture is missing its male half, and anyone who wants a baseline before something changes.

• Trying to conceive now or planning to within the year, and you would rather know where you stand at the start than nine months in.
• In a fertility workup where the male side has not been checked, which is common enough to be worth asking about directly.
• On or coming off testosterone, finasteride, steroids, or chemotherapy, and you want to see where sperm production currently sits.
• Planning a change to weight, training, drinking, or heat exposure, and you want a before rather than a single snapshot later.

What your results reveal

Your report gives a measured value for each of the eleven markers. The fragmentation index arrives as a percentage, the proportion of sperm in your sample with DNA strand breaks. Laboratories set their thresholds by assay. The figure is read against the method that produced it, not against a universal cutoff.

Higher fragmentation has been associated with recurrent pregnancy loss across pooled studies, where the variation between those studies was wide. An association observed across groups is not a prediction for any one person.

Your provider reads the fragmentation result alongside count, movement, shape, and the antibody markers. One test from one partner describes a slice of a couple's picture. Your Superpower care team is on hand for questions along the way.

Reference ranges vary by lab and individual. Your Superpower care team and your provider can help you interpret your specific results in context.

How to prepare

A few things move these numbers, so plan the sample around them.

• Abstinence — Follow the window printed in the kit instructions, and keep it consistent between tests, because fragmentation results can rise with longer ejaculatory abstinence.
• Recent fever — Wait two to three months after a fever, since count, movement, and DNA integrity can stay altered for weeks afterwards. A cold without a fever is unlikely to affect the result.
• Collect the full sample — A partial sample distorts volume and count.
• Ship the same day you collect, using the prepaid label in the kit.

How it works

1. Order online — The kit arrives in discreet packaging with everything you need and a prepaid return label.
2. Collect at home — Transfer the full sample to the transport vial and ship it the same day, since the stabilizing medium keeps sperm viable for up to three days in transit.
3. Review your results — Results post to your Superpower account, and your care team can walk you through what each marker describes.