Male Infertility A child of my own - Andrology Australia

MALEREPRODUCTIONWhat are sperm?Sperm are the male reproductive cells. To havea child, genetic material from the sperm mustcombine with the genetic material from an egg,in a process called fertilisation.Healthy, fully developed sperm are very small(0.05 millimetres long) and cannot be seen bythe human eye. These mature sperm are highlyspecialised cells and are made up of three parts:a head, neck and tail. In the head is a structurecalled the nucleus, which contains 23 tightlypacked chromosomes (genetic material). Thehead is designed to bind to and then penetrate(enter) the egg. The neck joins the head to thetail. The part of the tail nearest the neck containsthe mitochondria, which provides the energy forthe sperm to move. The tail moves in a whippingmotion to push the sperm towards the egg.A man’s fertilityand sexualcharacteristicsdepend on thenormal functioningof the malereproductive systemHealthy, mature sperm with a normal shaped head, neck and tail.MALE INFERTILITY 3