Freezing and storing sperm

a) What is sperm freezing and storage?

Sperm can be frozen for future use either in artificial insemination or other fertility treatments, or be donated.

Donated sperm has to be stored for six months before it can be used in treatment, in order to screen the donor for infections.

Sperm cells have been frozen and thawed successfully for more than 40 years.

b) Is sperm freezing and storage for me?

By storing your sperm, you may be able to use them for treatment in the future. The indications are if:

• You you are facing medical treatment that may affect your fertility, for example, some forms of cancer treatment
• you are about to undergo a vasectomy
• you have a low sperm count or are producing sperm that are deteriorating in quality over time
• you have difficulty producing a sample on the day of fertility treatment
• your sperm is going to be used for donation, in which case freezing allows the sperm to be quarantined for six months.

c) What happens when sperm are frozen?

Step 1. You will be screened for infectious diseases, including HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

Step 2. You will need to give written consent for your sperm to be stored.

Step 3. At the clinic, you produce a fresh sample of sperm.

Step 4. The sperm are frozen and then stored in a storage tank containing liquid nitrogen.

d) What is my chance of having a baby with stored sperm?

Some sperm do not survive or are damaged during freezing. This means that after freezing there may be a reduction in quality. Some frozen sperm samples that are of poor quality can only be used for Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

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