Sperm Bank & Sperm Banking

Sperm Banking or Sperm Bank means preserving your sperm or semen for future fertility. Read our awesome guide on sperm bank and sperm banking get more info on this procedure. I have been a practicing andrologist in chennai for a long time and have helped many patients with their fertility preservation process.

Sperm Banking:-

The problem of childlessness has only been rising. Male infertility though is fairly recent. One cannot deny the fact that ‘male infertility is definitely on the rise’

The concept of commercial banking of sperm banking is pretty old.

In a fully fledged fertility clinic, the semen is processed, the motile sperm fraction extracted and it is then stored in liquid nitrogen Dewar’s (-196 degree Celsius) routinely before a complicated fertility procedure. This is in fact the simplest form of sperm banking also called as therapeutic sperm banking.

However, from general public view point, sperm banking is simply defined as the process of storing your sperm for a future fertility goal or for DONATION. Sperm banks are specialized centres that store both sperm donated by various men either for use in couples facing infertility or for the self use, at a later time.

As per the ICMR guidelines, a sperm bank should be an isolated entity from the fertility clinic. What this means is that, fertility clinics should not store semen collected from donors in the same location as the clinic. This also means that when you visit a fertility specialist in chennai you may not be able to crypreserve sperm in the fertility clinic. You doctor will refer you to third party freezing service that is isolated from the clinic

When do men normally prefer to bank their sperm?

There are  few conditions where men commonly prefer banking their spermatozoa.

1. Cancers:-

Certain malignant cancers and most certainly the use of chemotherapeutic medications can severely compromise sperm quality, quantity and function. Men frequently prefer to bank sperm for a future fertility treatment in the event of cancer diagnosis

2. Travel:-

Some men extensively travel, due to their professional commitments. In these events sperm banking is done so that adequate sperms are available even in the absence of the male partner during a procedure

3. Surgery:-

Sometimes, men undergo contraception. This procedure is called vasectomy. The success rates of vasectomy reversal is only about 40%. In the unlikely event where the male patient may desire another child post vasectomy, sperm banking can be exceedingly helpful.

Donated sperm

Men can earn money by donating sperm. Some men donate altruistically though!. Donated sperm is usually sold to other fertility clinics for donor insemination programs and other fertility procedures like donor sperm IVF or donor sperm ICSI.

Screening for disease:-

All sperm donated for banking is screened for common sexually transmitted infections like HIV, Hepatitis B, syphilis and a few other STI’s.

Samples are usually held for 6 months and then re-screened. This is to account for the seroconversion phase involved in a few infectious disease.

As per the ICMR guidelines, the identity of the donor is usually kept anonymous in nature. The donor however can choose to reveal certain information such as his height, occupation, weight and colour without revealing his personal identifiable information.

There are also specific age requirements for donor and also upper limits on the number of times a single sample from one donor can be used.

All samples received in the sperm bank are processed with the addition of specialized cryoprotective agents that preserve sperm functions on thaw. Samples are usually dispatched from the sperm bank to the fertility clinic on request for a fee.

A good sperm bank will strictly follow the local regulatory guidelines and will maintain proper records.

Outside of this, sperm banks should establish standard clinical guidelines and have its own audit system for storing semen reliably and safely.

References:-

  1. https://www.icmr.nic.in/guidelines?field_select_disease_tid=90
  2. http://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/jco.2002.07.174

Feel Free to drop right in!. Your fertility journey begins below

Dr Shah’s Clinic for Male Infertility & Sexual Health
Address:- No 5, Hindi Prachar Saba Rd, Parthasarathi Puram, T. Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600017
Ph. No:- +91-9790783856
Appointment Timings:- 9:00 am to 6:00 pm

Meet Dr. Shah at the Male Infertility & Sexual health Clinic

Dr. Shah is Consultant Andrologist and Sexologist in Chennai. His passion for helping men facing infertility issues stems from the fact that “Men never ever get the care they deserve as far as fertility treatmen ts is concerned”

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