Young Male Cancer Patients Can Bank Sperm for Future Fatherhood

First, it was eggs of young girl cancer patients which can be preserved. Now,  sperm of young male cancer patients can be saved in a “bank” before undergoing cancer treatments.

That way, these males can still father their own children even after potentially-damaging cancer treatments.

Sperm freezing and banking is an effective way to preserve fertility in adolescents and young adult (AYA) males with cancer as has been proven by a recent study at Hamilton Health Sciences.

The study, “Effectiveness of Sperm Banking in Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer – A Regional Experience,” showed that only 18 percent of the patients in the study opted to bank their sperm before cancer treatment.

Those who used their frozen sperm sample after overcoming their cancer had a fertility success rate of 36 percent using intrauterine insemination (IUI – injecting the sperm into the uterus) and 50 percent using in vitro fertilization (IVF – fertilizing the egg in a lab and then transferring the embryo to the uterus) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI – injecting the sperm directly into the egg).

Keep in mind that such procedures are for cancer patients who have a high probability of being infertile later in adulthood due to cancer treatments.

Find more details from the full report.