Semen Freezing

Male fertility preservation

Why would I want to freeze my sperm?

You may choose to freeze your semen for a variety of surgical or medical reasons that may affect your fertility. For example, if you need to undergo treatment for cancer, there are options available to ensure you can still have children in the future.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can affect sperm production – sometimes this is temporary, but in other cases it can be permanent. Once your treatment begins, it may be too late to collect and preserve your sperm as it may already carry genetic damage. So if you are keen to start or extend your family, we strongly recommend you contact Queensland Fertility Group before you start any cancer treatment. We offer reduced treatment and storage fees for oncology patients.

Also, if you travel overseas a lot, or work in dangerous situations, you may also want to have sperm frozen as a precautionary measure, for use in the future.

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How does it work?

Semen samples are collected in a private room (or can be collected at home and delivered to us within an hour) at a Queensland Fertility Group clinic, so our scientists can prepare and freeze the sperm as soon as possible before they die.

If you can’t collect semen or if it becomes clear there are no sperm in the semen, we may be able to collect sperm directly from your testicles using a needle. This is called a testicular biopsy. We can then use this sperm later in ICSI treatment.

Sperm storage

Once the sperm is collected, it is mixed with a protective solution and the temperature is gradually reduced. About 25% to 50% of the sperm will survive the process of freezing, and they can be stored for many years. There is a 6 monthly fee for sperm storage, which is neither covered by Medicare or private health insurance.

Should men freeze their sperm?