Family on Hold: How Medical Professionals Safely Store Gametes

Many couples are now choosing to have children later in life, for instance, after they’re firmly established in their careers. The only problem with this approach is that fertility rates tend to decrease as you age, which means there is always a chance that the couple won’t be able to conceive once they’re finally ready. As a result, some people are choosing to have their gametes (sperm or eggs) frozen to ensure they are still viable whenever they decide they want a baby. Despite the huge increase in the number of individuals undergoing this process, there is still a lot most people don’t know about it. Therefore, this brief guide is designed to teach you everything you need to know about how medical professionals store sperm and eggs.

Sperm Banking

The process of collecting the gametes is different for men and women. For men, the process is far simpler as masturbation is all that is required to obtain the semen that is to be frozen. In order to ensure that the patient has enough viable sperm to freeze, most medical professionals recommend that three samples be taken. Moreover, the man should be abstinent for at least 24 to 72 hours in between samples to ensure the highest possible sperm count.

Ovarian Stimulation and Retrieval

For women, the process of extracting their gametes is a bit more complicated. It starts off with ovarian stimulation, which involves the woman injecting herself with hormones for a period of around 10 days. Once the ovaries have been stimulated in this way, multiple eggs are then extracted using either transabdominal or transvaginal egg retrieval.

Gamete Cryopreservation

Once the eggs or semen have been collected, the next step is to freeze them through a process known as cryopreservation. This is done by placing the gametes into a liquid nitrogen freezer that almost instantly freezes them at a temperature of approximately -320 degrees Fahrenheit. By using cryopreservation, the gametes can then be stored indefinitely until they are ready to be used. In some cases, semen may simply be stored at low temperatures instead of using cryopreservation. However, this tends to produce poorer results and also means the semen is only good for around 10 years instead of indefinitely as with cryopreservation.

Thawing and Using Gametes

Once the couple or individual decide that they are ready to get pregnant, the gametes are taken out of the liquid nitrogen freezer and then thawed to bring them back to life. After being thawed and analyzed for viability, the gametes are then ready to be used in an assisted-reproductive procedure. When only semen was frozen, the couple may have the option for this to be used in intrauterine insemination or as part of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), whereas frozen eggs must always undergo IVF.

Although the process sounds a bit complicated at first, the fact is that thousands upon thousands of people undergo gamete preservation each year. Moreover, tens of thousands of children have been born using sperm or eggs that were previously frozen. Therefore, gamete preservation is definitely something you might want to consider if you’re thinking about putting off starting your family.