Sperm Freezing Can Preserve Male Fertility and Help Couples Pursuing IUI and IVF
Sperm freezing (cryopreservation) allows men to preserve their reproductive materials to achieve fatherhood at a later date. It can also help couples who are pursuing certain fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intrauterine insemination (IUI).
Both procedures require the male patient to provide a semen sample on a specific day. However, sometimes outside circumstances that range from unavoidable travel to anxiety on collection day can interfere with this requirement. Thankfully, sperm freezing can help bypass these issues.
Eliminating the Stress of Providing a Semen Sample for Fertility Treatment
If you or your partner are worried about providing a semen sample on a certain day, let your Ovation® partner physician know. They can arrange for sample collection to occur ahead of time on a more convenient day and under less stressful conditions. The Ovation andrologist can then freeze one or more sperm samples to use for IUI or IVF at a later date.
You can also visit a physician if you’re interested in freezing your sperm to delay fatherhood for any reason. For example, some men freeze their sperm after receiving a cancer diagnosis. This is because certain cancer treatments can damage male fertility. Other men may freeze their sperm for non-medical reasons, such as when they are preparing for military deployment.
Your physician and the Ovation andrology team are here to support you, regardless of your reason for pursuing sperm freezing.
Sperm Freezing Utilizes Advanced Cryopreservation Techniques
Once you or your partner provides a semen sample, andrologists will perform a semen analysis. The goal is to determine how many moving (motile) and normally shaped sperm are present in the sample. This number helps the andrologists determine how to divide and freeze the sample.
- If there are many high-quality sperm present, the laboratory team may divide the sample into two or more vials.
- If the sample only has a small number of moving sperm, the andrologist may freeze the sample in one vial. In this situation, the team will likely recommend that you freeze more samples.
To preserve the sample, the andrologist freezes and stores the sample in liquid nitrogen. This allows the sperm to remain viable for many years, if necessary. When you are ready to conceive using the frozen sperm, the andrologist will thaw one or more vials of sperm. They will then prepare an appropriate number of sperm for the procedure.
If you have more questions about conceiving with help from sperm freezing, please contact an Ovation partner physician today.