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A “HIS AND HERS” home fertility test is due to go on sale next year. But many
fertility experts fear it will do more harm than good.

“The current screen for infertility is to try for 12 months and then seek
medical advice,” says Christopher Barratt of Birmingham University, who helped
Genosis of London develop the “Fertell” test. “This test can indicate early on
if there is a problem.”

Barratt says the male part of the test will pick up the vast majority of
problems. Sperm have to swim through a column of artificial cervical mucus.
Those that make it through are tagged using antibodies. If the number making it
is high enough to be considered normal, a red line appears. The female part is a
urine test that measures a key hormone associated with fertility.

But Simon Fishel of the Park Hospital in Nottingham says the test is a
gimmick. “There are lots of variables that need to be considered when looking at
an infertile couple,” he says. “I don’t think it offers much in the way of
self-help. It would probably create more anxiety.”

Geoffrey Trew of the IVF unit at Hammersmith Hospital in London agrees. “The
biggest problem with all home test kits is reliability,” he says. “A false
‘normal’ result could artificially reassure people and delay their getting
help.” But Barratt, who presented his results at a conference in Switzerland
this week, defends the test. “One-third of male patients attending our clinic
don’t turn up for semen analysis because of embarrassment,” he says. “This will
allow them to do it in the comfort of their own home.”