SPERM FREEZING

Scientists have been freezing sperm for decades and as a result the technology for preserving and storing sperm is well documented.
Sperm tolerate the freezing process well, although we do see some variation from patient to patient.

Many patients freeze sperm for convenience (for example, a man knows that he will be travelling on the day we will be performing an insemination on his partner), but for most patients there is a specific reason to freeze the sperm.

Some men undergo surgical procedures to harvest sperm from the epididymis or testicle, and this sperm is frozen in several aliquots to prevent the patient from having to go through the procedure again in the future.

For others, sperm numbers are low and we try to accumulate sperm in the freezer to allow the couple to do inseminations or IVF.

We also suggest sperm freezing to any man who may be anxious about producing a sample on the day of his partner’s insemination or egg retrieval.