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Canadian Fertility Clinics Overflowing With Abandoned Sperm
Canadian fertility clinics are confronted with an unusual problem. They are overflowing with abandoned sperm, and they don’t know what to do with it.
Sperm banks across Canada are having a tough time tracking down clients about their "little swimmers."
"I think it's time," said Dr. Beth Taylor, an expert in reproductive endocrinology and infertility care at the Genesis Fertility Centre in Vancouver.
"If you asked a woman when was the last time she had her Pap test, most people can't remember that — and that's within a year — so you can imagine something you did 15 or 10 years ago, you may not remember."
There are many reasons why a man might freeze and store sperm. The Genesis centre says doing so can provide a safeguard against unforeseen circumstances. Men who are about to undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy often choose to save some sperm, which can be frozen indefinitely, in case they become infertile.
"Sperm fortunately are really hardy cells that freeze very well," said Taylor. "[They're] frozen in liquid nitrogen, which seems to suspend all cell processes so sperm don't degenerate."
She says the longest that sperm has been frozen and then used to produce a healthy baby was 28 years. There was a recent case in Calgary where a child was born from sperm frozen 22 years ago.
First, though, a donor must remember that the sample exists. But what's a clinic to do with sperm that's been abandoned?
Sperm banks across Canada are having a tough time tracking down clients about their "little swimmers."
"I think it's time," said Dr. Beth Taylor, an expert in reproductive endocrinology and infertility care at the Genesis Fertility Centre in Vancouver.
"If you asked a woman when was the last time she had her Pap test, most people can't remember that — and that's within a year — so you can imagine something you did 15 or 10 years ago, you may not remember."
There are many reasons why a man might freeze and store sperm. The Genesis centre says doing so can provide a safeguard against unforeseen circumstances. Men who are about to undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy often choose to save some sperm, which can be frozen indefinitely, in case they become infertile.
"Sperm fortunately are really hardy cells that freeze very well," said Taylor. "[They're] frozen in liquid nitrogen, which seems to suspend all cell processes so sperm don't degenerate."
She says the longest that sperm has been frozen and then used to produce a healthy baby was 28 years. There was a recent case in Calgary where a child was born from sperm frozen 22 years ago.
First, though, a donor must remember that the sample exists. But what's a clinic to do with sperm that's been abandoned?
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More News on: Ovulation, Genetics of Male Infertility, Artificial Insemination , Undescended Testis, Varicocele, Premature Ejaculation
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