Sperm freezing is the most successful method of preserving a man’s fertility so he can try and have children at a later date. It's also used to store sperm so it can be used in someone else's treatment. Find out more about what sperm freezing involves and how long you can store your sperm for.
Men are able to freeze their sperm for use in their own future treatment or to donate to someone else’s treatment. Donated sperm usually has to be stored for six months first in order to screen the donor for infections (unless the clinic uses a process called Nucleic Acid Testing [NAT], which is quicker but not recommended by professional bodies.)
You may want to consider freezing your sperm if:
Firstly, your sperm will need to be tested for any infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis. This has no bearing on whether you can freeze your sperm or not but is to ensure that affected sperm samples are stored separately to prevent contamination of other samples.
You’ll then need to give your written, informed consent to your sperm being stored and specify how long you want it to be stored for.
At the clinic, you’ll be asked to produce a fresh sample of sperm (if you’re able), which will be frozen and mixed with a special fluid (a cryoprotectant) to protect the sperm from damage during freezing. The samples are then cooled slowly and plunged into liquid nitrogen.
Before freezing, the sperm sample is usually divided between a number of containers called straws. This means that not all the sperm needs to be thawed at once and can be used in multiple treatments.
It’s very safe – we’re not aware of any risks to patients or children from using frozen sperm. Not all sperm will survive the freezing and thawing process though.
Treatment with frozen sperm is just as successful as treatment using fresh sperm.
The standard storage period for sperm is normally 10 years, although men in certain circumstances can store their sperm for up to 55 years. Your clinician will be able to explain whether you can do this.
You must let the clinic know if you change address. This is particularly important if you have decided to store your sperm for less than 10 years, as if the clinic can’t reach you, they may have to take your sperm out of storage and allow them to perish.
If you have the option to store for 55 years, you’ll need to confirm that you want to continue storing your sperm and your doctor will need to confirm that you’re eligible to do so. Again, it's vital that you stay in touch with your clinic to prevent your sperm from being discarded if your storage runs out.
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