Infertility: cervical mucus and semen factors.

A total of 34 infertile couples whose infertility was considered to be the result of a cervical factor were investigated. The use of pooled human blood plasma was found to significantly stimulate spermatozoal motility relative to that in seminal plasma or tissue culture media. Two additional male factors that may contribute to infertility have been identified, nondirectional spermatozoal motility, and in particular the inability of spermatozoa from some males to survive in normal donor mucus. This is supported by the fact that pregnancies only occurred in those cases (25%) in which the spermatozoa were able to survive in normal donor mucus. These pregnancies were achieved by artificial insemination using the husband's spermatozoa suspended in pooled human blood plasma.