Semen Culture · Physician Order Included
Find out if an infection is affecting your semen — and your fertility
A sperm culture (semen culture) checks your semen for bacterial infection. Infections can lower sperm motility and count — and they're treatable. Order online and we find a lab near you that accepts semen specimens — physician order included.
$60 physician order + the lab's testing fee, paid at your visit
A sperm culture — also called a semen culture — is a lab test that checks your semen for bacteria. The lab incubates your sample for several days and identifies any organisms that grow, so an infection can be treated with the right antibiotic.
It answers a different question than a semen analysis: the analysis measures how your sperm are performing (count, motility, morphology), while the culture looks for infection — a treatable cause of poor motility and low count. They're often ordered together.
1. Order online — no need to pick a location. Hera's physician prepares your order; no doctor visit or referral needed.
2. We find your lab: big-chain draw sites don't accept semen specimens, so we match you to a specialty or hospital lab that does. Within one business day you get its location, price, and collection instructions by text.
3. Provide your sample at your matched lab. Results in 2–5 days with clinician review and clear next steps.
Big-chain draw sites don't accept semen specimens, so we match every order to a specialty or hospital lab that does. Submit your order and within one business day we'll text you your lab's location, its testing fee, and collection instructions. Hera's fee is $60 — you pay the lab's testing fee directly at your visit. Prefer to ask first? Text us your ZIP code and the test you need (semen culture).
Order now — we'll match your lab Text us your ZIP for a semen culture — (915) 348-4512A semen culture is ordered under a general culture code, so what makes it a semen culture is the specimen source on the requisition. If you're bringing your own order, or checking what your insurance will see, these are the codes to look for — and the ones a Hera order carries.
| Code | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 87070 (On a Hera order) | Aerobic bacterial culture of a specimen other than urine, blood or stool — the semen culture itself. The order must list the specimen source as semen. |
| 87077 | Definitive identification of a bacterial isolate — added by the lab only if something grows. |
| 87186 | Antibiotic susceptibility (MIC) — added by the lab only if something grows, so the report can name which antibiotics work. |
| Code | What it covers |
|---|---|
| R86.5 (On a Hera order) | Abnormal microbiological findings in a male genital specimen — the usual code after white blood cells or bacteria on a semen analysis. |
| N41.1 | Chronic prostatitis — when pelvic pain or recurrent prostate infection is the reason for the culture. |
| N46.9 | Male infertility, unspecified — when the culture is part of an infertility workup. |
| Z31.41 | Encounter for fertility testing. |
Check that the order says CPT 87070 with the source as semen. A genital culture ordered as a swab, or a urine culture (CPT 87086), is a different test and the lab will turn away a semen cup for it. A semen culture also does not test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, Ureaplasma or Mycoplasma — those need separate PCR orders.
A sperm culture (semen culture) checks your semen for bacterial infection. The lab incubates the sample and identifies any bacteria that grow — commonly organisms like E. coli or Enterococcus — so an infection can be treated with the right antibiotic. Infections in the reproductive tract can lower sperm motility and count.
Hera charges $60 for the physician order and coordination; you pay the lab's testing fee directly at the lab (it varies by location — we confirm it with you before you go). HSA and FSA cards are accepted at checkout.
Not through Hera — our physician issues the culture order for you to the lab we match you with. If your own doctor already gave you a culture order, you can bring it instead and pay a reduced $30 fee.
Cultures need time to grow, so results typically take 2–5 days after your lab visit — longer than a standard semen analysis. Hera emails you as soon as they're in, with a clinician review of what they mean.
A semen analysis measures sperm count, motility, morphology, and volume — how your sperm are performing. A sperm culture looks for bacterial infection in the semen. They answer different questions and are often ordered together when an infection is suspected, for example when a semen analysis shows elevated white blood cells.
A positive culture identifies which bacteria are present. Take the result to your physician or a urologist for targeted antibiotic treatment, then retest after treatment to confirm the infection cleared. Hera can arrange a follow-up culture or semen analysis when you're ready.
CPT 87070 — an aerobic bacterial culture of a specimen other than urine, blood or stool — with the specimen source written as semen. If bacteria grow, the lab adds identification (87077) and antibiotic susceptibility (87186). The diagnosis code most often paired with it is R86.5, abnormal microbiological findings in a male genital specimen. A urine culture (87086) or a genital swab is a different test.