Antisperm antibodies fight sperm. It happens when the immune system mistakenly targets sperm in a man’s semen as an invader and damages or kills it. Antisperm antibodies aren’t common. Both men and women can make them. They can make it harder for couples to have a baby.
The antisperm antibody test may be done if:
1) A cause for infertility cannot be found. Experts disagree about the usefulness of the test because the result may not change the treatment.
2) The results from another fertility test are not clear.
An antisperm antibody test looks for special proteins (antibodies) that fight against a man’s sperm in blood, vaginal fluids, or semen. The higher the level of antibody-affected sperm found in the semen, the lower the chance of the sperm fertilizing an egg.
