Assisted reproduction
Sperm freezing: male fertility preservation
Sperm freezing or cryopreservation is a male fertility preservation technique which was discovered over 75 years ago. It consists of freezing a sperm sample for later use in fertility or assisted reproduction treatments.
What does sperm freezing consist of?
It consists of the conservation of a sperm sample for future use in a fertility treatment.
Dreams that came true
We went to Ginefiv because it worked for a few of my friends and they are mums
now. The prognosis wasn’t very favourable because my ovarian reserve was low, but
the doctor told us that the eggs might be good quality.
I went for my first insemination and it was really emotional knowing that it was virtually impossible that it would happen on the first try, but at the beta test I already
suspected that I was pregnant. And they gave us the news we had been hoping for:
we were pregnant! Yes, it worked on the first go.
Our little Olivia was born nine months later and we couldn’t be more in love
We were advised to get IVF with microinjection and we got good embryos from it.
Three of these ‘little ones’ were transferred to me and I became pregnant with Cristina.
It all went so well and it was so easy that after 15 months we decided to go for a little
brother. It didn’t happen at first but we were lucky on the third try with frozen
embryos and we had our second child, Carolina. We couldn’t be happier
We were fed up with another clinic so we came here and what a good move that
was. I couldn’t get pregnant even after months and months, and the tests showed
there was nothing stopping it.
After a while though, it did happen for us. And even though I spent so long worrying
about my health, thinking about my baby changed my mood completely.
Thank-you all for the hard work.
We were recommended to go to Ginefiv by some friends and after our first visit,
looking at other clinics didn’t even cross our minds.
We went there after 7 years of unsuccessful treatments with the Social Security
healthcare system.
At Ginefiv I got pregnant with the second transfer.
I’ve only got good things to say about Ginefiv and the way they took care of us. We
found the best clinic and doctor in the world
The sperm freezing process is a simple technique which has 3 phases:
1st Phase
A quality sample needs to be obtained before sperm freezing can take place. In order for the sample to maintain a maximum guarantee of quality and for it to be suitable for subsequent fertilisation, the patient needs to:
- Maintain 3-4 days of sexual abstinence. It is not advisable to abstain for many more or less days (the limits are no less than 2 and no more than 7), seeing as this could increase the rate of immotile spermatozoa.
- Collect the sample in a sterile container which can be purchased in a pharmacy, ensuring maximum hygiene conditions (wash hands beforehand) and ensuring that the sample is complete (that nothing is spilled outside the container).
- Deliver the sample to the fertility clinic within an hour and a half after having obtained the sample at home, carrying it close to your body to maintain its temperature. If this is not possible, the sample can be collected in the centre itself
2nd Phase
Our Andrology Laboratory will analyse the sample and determine whether it is of
sufficient quality to be frozen.
3rd Phase
The sample will be cryopreserved in accordance with the centre’s protocol and then stored in a cryobank.
The sperm sample will be processed using a cryoprotectant (which allows the spermatozoa to survive the freezing and thawing processes) and it will be frozen in liquid nitrogen vapour (-196ºC) and stored, perfectly identified, until it needs to be used.
How long do frozen sperm samples last?
In principle, the sample can be conserved in liquid nitrogen indefinitely and it will continue to be suitable for fertilisation. Given that the temperature and levels of the liquid nitrogen are carefully controlled 365 days a year, the samples will not suffer any loss in quality.
Pregnancy has been achieved using samples which have been frozen for up to 15 years.
When should sperm freezing be used?
Freezing sperm is recommended in the following cases:
- In in vitro fertilisation treatments (even if the sample is going to be used fresh, having a frozen sample avoids any unexpected circumstances and gives the couple more peace of mind).
- When the male’s fertility is in danger, if he is going to undergo surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy for example, all of which can cause a deterioration in the patient’s sperm production.
- When the patient’s sperm count is so low that it is advisable to accumulate spermatozoa from various ejaculations.
- To preserve fertility, in case any anomalies in sperm production occur in the future, or if the patient is going to have a vasectomy
