It must have no lower than 20 million sperm per cubic centimetre (or per milliliter) of semen,

There must be at least 40% active sperm, and

At least 60% of this sperm must be of normal shape and motility.

Based on these criteria, some sperm and semen problems are identified as follows:

• Oligospermia (Low Sperm Count):

  Oligospermia is the production of too little sperm, i.e. an amount less than 20 million sperm per cubic centimetre or milliliter of semen.

  A low sperm count has many causes. It could be due to an infection after puberty, a prior exposure to x-ray or consistent contact with environmental pollutants, the man's lifestyle habits such as the consumption of certain drugs or excessive alcohol, a high temperature around his scrotal sac due to Variocele or tight-fitting underpants, or it could even be genetic in nature.

  Depending on its cause, he can be treated by male hormones to increase his sperm count but the effect may be temporal.

  Another option for him to be a father is to artificially inseminate his wife with his sperm through a few medical procedures.

  Firstly, his fertility specialist can retrieve some of his sperm through a testicular procedure and, through another procedure known as Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), inject his sperm directly into his wife's egg. This will be done in conjunction with an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure.

• Azoospermia (No Sperm):

  A man with Azoospermia can ejaculate but he can't procreate.

  Why?

  Because there is no sperm present in his semen.

  Azoospermia is quite rare among sperm and semen problems. And sadly, a man afflicted with this condition will be completely sterile without medical intervention. He may need to use donor sperm.

  Possible causes of Azoospermia could be genetic issues, testicular injury, and congenital anomalies.

  This condition is often associated with Klinefelter's Syndrome described below.

• Klinefelter's Syndrome:

  Klinefelter's syndrome is a genetic defect in which the man has an additional X chromosome. His chromosone makeup is XXY instead of XY.

  Such a man may also suffer from a decreased level of testosterone. The results of Klinefelter's syndrome is little or no sperm production leading to sterility.

  A man with this syndrome has some recognizable physical features. He is usually tall with long limbs. Upon a physical examination, he could be seen to have smaller testicles and less pubic hair.

  The Klinefelter's syndrome is only one of a few other types of sperm production genetic disorders discovered so far. Doctors are still trying to research into and develop new therapies to combat such disorders.

• Aspermia (No Semen):

  If a man has problems with his prostate gland and seminal vesicles, he may develop a form of male infertility known as Aspermia where he produces no semen at all.

  He can still ejaculate but there is no fluid. No semen means no sperm, leading to permanent male infertility. If such a man wishes to have a child, he'll have to use donor sperm.

• Abnormal Shape (Tetraozoospermia) and Poor Motility of Sperm (Asthenozoospermia):

  Another possible sperm and semen problem is having a high numbers of abnormlly-shaped sperm and sperm which do not swim as they should can also lead to serious male infertility issues.

  A normal sperm has a long tail and an oval-shaped head. The long tail helps the sperm to swim fast and the pointed head is specially shaped to penetrate the egg.

  Low-quality sperm with deformed shapes cannot swim well through the cervical fluid and cannot penetrate the egg.

  This is a greater problem than a low sperm count.