Introduction
Sperm banking collects sperm, freezes it, and stores it. Many people do this to enhance their chances of having biological children in the future. It is a safe method and helps to maintain fertility for many years. It is not necessary that sperm donors only freeze sperm; even people who have no idea of donating sperm can freeze the sperm in the hope of having their biological child one day.
What Is Meant by Sperm Banking?
Sperm banking is a procedure that collects, freezes, and stores sperm in a sperm bank for future use. Sperm cells are the male reproductive cells used to fertilize the egg. The testicles produce sperm. Almost 300 million sperm will be present in the semen after each ejaculation. These sperm travel through the female reproductive tract to fertilize the egg.
What Are the Reasons to Freeze the Sperm?
Sperm freezing is a very personal decision of an individual. These sperm can be used to have biological children in the future. Some situations which can lead to sperm freezing are
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Health Conditions: Some health issues can affect sperm count. Some medical conditions, such as testicular cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and leukemia, can increase the risk of male infertility.
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Treatments: Some treatment methods for other conditions can make the person infertile. Some treatments, such as chemotherapy, gender affirmation surgery, or orchiectomy, can reduce the sperm number drastically or can make the person completely infertile.
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Reduced Sperm Count: People with low sperm count can freeze the sperm. Even freezing a low number of sperm can make the person go through an assisted reproductive procedure such as IVF (in vitro fertilization).
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Age: Most men produce millions of sperm each day, but the quality of the sperm can reduce as a person ages. This is usually seen in men aged 40 and above.
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Vasectomy: Some people would like to have birth control surgery, but they may change their minds about having a kid in the future, where the frozen sperm might help.
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People With Cancer: People diagnosed with prostate or testicular cancer will freeze their sperm. This is done because, as a part of the treatment method, one or both testicles may be removed.
How Is Sperm Collected?
There are many steps involved in freezing the sperm; these are
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Initially, the person undergoes an infectious disease screening test to be sure that the person is not affected by any sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This can be done through a blood test.
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In the next step, the person provides a semen sample. In some cases, the sample is given directly at the clinic or collected at home and given to the lab within 24 hours.
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The sperm specimen needs to be kept in a cup and preserved at a temperature close to the body temperature. At the same time, the sample should not contain any other substances, such as lubricants or moisture.
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In the case of some people who have undergone cancer treatment of vasectomy, the sperm specimen will be collected through surgery from the testicular tissue. The sperm can be extracted from some infertile males through surgery.
What Are the Tests Performed on the Sperm?
A small quantity of the semen will be analyzed before freezing the sample. Some of the things that are analyzed before freezing are
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The total number of sperm present in the semen.
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The total number of live sperm present in the semen.
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The number of motile sperm.
After 24 to 48 hours of freezing, a small amount of the semen sample is analyzed again to see how many sperm survive. Generally, sperm in high-quality semen samples recover well after freezing.
How the Sperms Are Frozen?
Each patient's sperm samples are collected and tested. After this, they are stored in separate vials and many storage tanks. This is done because the other freezers can save the sample even if one freezer fails to work. Sperm can be saved and frozen indefinitely.
When the person is ready to use the frozen sperm, the sample is carefully thawed in the lab until it reaches room temperature. Almost half to one-third of the sperm cannot withstand this freezing process, but those that are alive at the end can be used for fertilization.
What Are the Advantages of Sperm Banking?
Some advantages of sperm banking are
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Some conditions, such as medical treatment and environmental factors, can result in infertility. Freezing the sperm in the sperm bank can help the person maintain fertility and the person have the chance of having a biological child.
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Sperm freezing can also be done to enhance health and safety. In the case of cryopreserved sperm, it does not enhance the risk of congenital conditions. Those babies who are conceived through cryopreserved sperm are as healthy as those babies conceived through normal sexual intercourse.
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When the sperm are preserved correctly, they can be preserved for many years.
What Are the Disadvantages Associated With Sperm Freezing?
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In some cases, the person will not be able to ejaculate for some reasons, such as erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, or anejaculation (where the person cannot ejaculate). In such cases, the person cannot provide the sample through normal means. In such cases, surgery may be performed to collect the sperm samples from the testicular tissues.
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If a cancer patient wishes to have a biological child through sperm freezing, they can be worried about the cancer affecting the child. However, only some forms of cancer run in the family, which can be discussed with the health care provider.
Can the Sperm Be Frozen at Home?
Freezing the sperm at home is not possible. This needs to be done in a lab with proper quality control. The sperm must be stored at minus 196 degrees centigrade, whereas the normal freezer is only about minus 18 degrees centigrade. Sperm sample collection can be done at home, but the sample needs to be sent to the lab before 24 hours.
Conclusion
Sperm banking is a procedure where the sperm is collected, frozen, and stored in a lab, which can be used to produce biological children in the future. These sperm can be stored in the sperm bank for many years. This method can help people have biological children if they face some conditions that can make them infertile or produce low sperm count.
