Fertility preservation of sperm is the freezing and storing of your own sperm for potential use in the future. Some people call this sperm banking, but this is different, here you are preserving your own sperm, not a donor’s, so that you can use your own sperm in the future to attempt a pregnancy.
You should freeze and store your sperm when you are facing any of the following circumstances that may affect your fertility, whether now or in the future:
- When you are preparing for or are currently participating in fertility treatment including:
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- IUI, IVF, or ICSI
- PGT (preimplantation genetic testing, this used to be called PGS/PGD)
- When you are facing medical treatment that can affect fertility:
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- cancer treatments
- vasectomy or other urological surgeries
- hormone treatment
- transitioning genders
- other medical or surgical treatments
- When your lifestyle or career may potentially affect your fertility:
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- military or first responders
- extended or frequent travel
- potential exposure to chemical or toxic substances
- age
If you are considering fertility preservation, please keep in mind these factors:
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- Sperm samples should be collected and frozen before treatment or exposure begins.
- Sperm quality varies with frequency of ejaculation and time from last ejaculation. Keep this in mind when scheduling your appointments for sperm freezing. We recommend at least 2 days, but not more than 5 days, of abstinence from ejaculation before collecting samples.
- Plan to collect as many sperm samples as possible. The quality of the final frozen sperm sample and the number of vials of sperm frozen may affect your options for using your frozen sperm in the future. Most couples using these samples will need to utilize ARTs.
- Sperm samples must be collected at one of our three locations. If we are not located near you, please call us so we can guide you to a registered sperm freezing facility near you.
- If you are physically unable to collect a sperm sample, there are surgical options for obtaining sperm under anesthesia.
- There is a charge for freezing the sample and a monthly or yearly charge for storage.
- Sperm samples can be collected by teens and children as long as they are old enough to masturbate to ejaculation. Parental or legal guardian consent for freezing and storage is needed for people under 18 years old. Options for fertility preservation of sperm for infants and pre-pubertal children are limited.
Please contact us with any questions.
Storage of eggs and embryos for fertility preservation is also available at our Columbus and Wilmington locations. Contact us for more information.