Sperm Freezing

Sperm freezing is an effective way for men to store sperm for future use, particularly if they want to preserve their fertility while receiving any treatment that may damage sperm quality. Men may store their sperm from natural ejaculate or TESA.

What are the steps involved in sperm freezing?

Semen Collection:
Semen may be collected at IVF Michigan Fertility Center or at home and brought to the center within an hour, keeping it at room temperature during that time. TESA or MicroTESE may also be used to collect the sperm.

Semen Analysis:
The semen sample is analyzed to see how many sperm it contains (sperm count), what percentage of them is able to swim (motility) and how many have a normal shape (morphology).

Sperm Freezing:
The sperm cells are frozen using Vitrification (a new flash-freeze technique) and stored for future use. We offer short-term storage only, otherwise a sperm bank will need to be used.

Future IVF or IUI Cycle:
When you are ready to have a child, the sperm is thawed and used to fertilize your partner’s eggs in an IUI or IVF-ICSI cycle.