Freezing sperm is considered a perfect option for men worried about fertility, either because of their age, medical reasons, or any other concern. One can also make a sperm donation that is anonymous at a sperm bank that can be used by couples and gay coupled who are dealing with infertility. Collection of the sperm can be done occasionally at home or a clinic. When a person is ready to have children, he and his parent will require thawing a sperm for preparing for fertility treatment.
The process of freezing of sperm
When people choose to freeze their sperm, he tends to produce semen samples through masturbation. The primary step in the process is the analysis of semen. It helps to make sure that a person can viable sperm, freezing healthy, instead of any sample that does not possess a strong chance of creating or surviving a pregnancy. During the analysis of semen, a lab scientist tends to examine the sample of the sperm to see the sperm concentration or sperm count (how many sperms), sperm morphology (how sperm are shaped), or sperm motility (how the sperms are moving) is abnormal.
Another crucial step in the process of how to freeze sperm is a post-thaw analysis. During such analysis, a small portion of the sample is frozen and thawed to replicate the conditions of the sperm of a person that he will experience in the future. After this, the analysis takes place to determine the sperms that have survived. The post-thaw analysis is the perfect indicator of the number of sperms that are motile and visible when a person is ready to use the sample he froze.
Before freezing the sperm, it should be properly washed, that is, prepared by removing the plasma of the semen and any other contaminants. This process needs a centrifuge, a machine that spins the samples to separate the sperm from the seminal fluid, and other specific laboratory solutions.
Sperm should be preserved at -196 degrees Celsius for being viable in the future. After this, they are to be stored at the same temperature to pause all the biological activities to maintain their viability. Sperm is known to die without any transport media at higher temperatures in a few hours to days.
This is achieved at a cryo-storage facility busing large tanks of liquid nitrogen. An average freezer in a house is unable to produce the required temperature for the storage of sperms.
Who should go with sperm freezing and why?
The following people should consider freezing their sperm:
- People who wish to have children later sometime in their life, maybe after the age of 35.
- A cancer patient before he undergoes treatment
- Trans women before undergoing surgery for gender confirmation
- People working in high-risk environments or occupations, such as radiology, welding, or plastic production
- Military personnel
- People who are considering vasectomy and still want options
- Anyone who wishes to have peace of mind related to their fertility
Conclusion
Sperm freezing provides a person with more options, control over fertility, and more flexibility, how to freeze sperm? We hope we have answered your question through this article.