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Prior to cancer related therapies: Oncofertility

• Before you or someone you love begin any form of cancer treatment, consult with your doctor about the risks of sterility or infertility. Many common cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation may permanently affect your ability to father children. Sperm freezing prior to, or in the early stages of, treatment offers men the security of knowing that the possibility of fatherhood is preserved.
• Cryopreserved specimens, when properly stored, will remain viable for almost an indefinite period of time. Pregnancies have been reported for cases in which the sperm has been stored for 20 years prior to thawing and insemination.
• Fairfax Cryobank, a state licensed and inspected facility, has one of the largest inventories of cryopreserved oncology patients’ semen in the United States.
• December 2014 Preserving Your Fertility When Diagnosed with Cancer. Radio interview by Creating a Family and our Director of Operations, Dr. Michelle Ottey.

Prior to testicular, prostate or similar surgery

• The option to freeze and store semen prior to impending surgery may preserve a man’s reproductive capability.

Prior to vasectomy

• Although vasectomy is a common method of birth control, many men prefer the peace of mind that comes from banking their semen prior to a vasectomy. This safeguard allows these men the possibility of satisfying future fertility needs.

Prior to an Assisted Reproductive Technology procedure

• By storing semen prior to IVF, GIFT, ICSI or similar procedure, the availability of the sperm sample at the critical time of the procedure is ensured.

For high-risk occupations

• Many occupations put men at “high risk” of injury to their reproductive system and possible infertility.
• People who work with environmental pollutants.
• Workers in X-ray or nuclear environments.
• Firemen, policemen and construction workers who are prone to falls and other accidents which could result in testicular injury.
• Men in military service.
• Hockey, soccer, basketball and football players run a particularly high risk of testicular injury which may impair fertility.

For oligozoospermia patients

• Sperm banking may help treat men with oligozoospermia, or low sperm concentration. We concentrate the semen specimens, cryopreserve and store them. The specimens are then pooled by the physician to increase the probability of pregnancy.

For MTF trans patients

• Before a patient begins hormone treatment, they can bank semen specimens to preserve fertility options for the future