The rise of Big Sperm: does the tech world have the answer to our semen crisis?

Sperm counts in western men are falling, and nobody is sure why. But relax - because help is here, with everything from home-testing kits to sperm-freezing

Lads, lads, lads, hate to interrupt, but how's your ejaculate? Would you struggle to fill half a teaspoon? And your concentration, please: are we talking 20m-plus little swimmers a millilitre? And how's that motility? Are your spermatozoa wagging their flagella as if they can't wait to get to that ovum - or listlessly floating around like dead tadpoles in a poorly executed classroom experiment? It's not that embarrassing, surely?

If you are hoping to fertilise a human egg someday and haven't given much thought to these matters " well, Big Sperm reckons it is time you did. A wave of tech startups, such as ExSeed, Yo, Trak and Legacy, are offering next-generation home sperm-testing technology and - in some cases - sperm-freezing services. And even if British men aren't quite ready to start comparing their fertility concerns yet, these are clearly lurking at the back of many minds.