Sperm Cryopreservation (Freezing/Banking)


Fertility Treatments

Sperm cryopreservation simply means depositing your semen sample into an IVF bank for later use. The concept of sperm freezing is very much alike financial banking, the difference being your sperm sample in this case. The history of sperm cryopreservation dates back more than 200 years ago which involves cooling of sperm in the snow. This procedure has helped a great deal for the humankind.

Those that can benefit from this procedure are:-

  1. Couples that would like to put parenthood on hold (social or personal reasons)
  2. Men who are planning to have a vasectomy
  3. Men diagnosed with primary testicular failure
  4. Men who travel away from home frequently (for those undergoing ART treatments)
  5. Men who are diagnosed with cancer related illnesses
  6. Men that are bound to receive medical treatment or surgery that will or may affect his fertility
  7. Men who had their sperm retrieved surgically
  8. Donor sperm insemination
  9. Men with high – risk occupations
  10. Men with decreased sperm concentration and motility observed overtime

At Sunfert we can offer you an attractive Sperm Banking Package where you can store a few of your semen sample at an affordable price. Furthermore, our IVF laboratory team ensures that your semen sample is well guarded and taken care of. So, if you would like to have your future generation stored at our facility, these are the steps you must take.

  1. Infectious diseases screening test (HIV, Hepatitis B & C, VDRL)
    All men who wish to have their sperm sample frozen must first have their blood screened for infectious diseases. This is because your sperm will be stored together with sperm from other men in the same tank. By screening for these diseases, the risk of cross contamination is minimized, thus protecting other samples from getting infected as well. When the test results are normal, then only the cryopreservation can take place. We do accept test results that have been conducted in the last 6 months. For oncology patients, we can arrange for the blood tests to be done in the morning and appointment for sperm production later in the day (approx. 2 hours after venepuncture).
  2. Observe sexual abstinence of 3 – 5 days prior to ejaculation
    Like any other living organisms on earth, there is a life span for sperm too. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a sexual abstinence of 3 – 5 days because most sperm will die if kept longer than a week in the reproductive organ. Only then your frozen sample is optimized.

Freezing and thawing processes do have an impact on the sperm samples. Normally, the quality of the frozen sample will decline after the thawing process by usually 50%. Even healthy sperm may not do well after freezing. In the event that no viable sperm is found after thawing, more vials containing frozen sperm are thawed. However, if this is exhausted, in case of IVF, there is an option to freeze the retrieved oocytes (eggs) until further options has been discussed and explored. Some couples may decide to use donor sperm if the prospect of them getting viable sperm again in future is very low.

The duration of freezing is variable, depending on the needs of the couple. In the literature, the longest duration frozen sperm has been stored and subsequently thawed and resulted in a pregnancy is 10 years.

Thousands of children have been born using frozen sperm and numerous research groups have been studying the after effects of frozen sperm. As far as birth defects or chromosome abnormalities are concerned, no significant difference has been observed from the general population. Therefore, health of children of between 8 to 10 years old born as result of use of frozen sperm are not affected. However, larger and longer studies are needed to asses the children’s health particularly in regards to adulthood.


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