Live birth using autologous sperm cryopreserved for 26 years

Abstract

Summary We report the successful delivery of a healthy baby after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with frozen-thawed autologous sperm, cryostored for 26 years, the longest successful autologous sperm cryostorage reported. Sperm was cryostored for a 15-year-old boy at the time of his cancer diagnosis. Semen samples were frozen with cryoprotectant, using a graduated vapour-phase nitrogen protocol. Straws were stored in a large vapour-phase nitrogen tank until transfer for use. The couple underwent a single ICSI–in vitro fertilisation procedure using the frozen-thawed sperm with a transfer of five fertilised embryos, resulting in the live birth of a healthy baby boy. This reinforces the importance of offering sperm cryopreservation to men who have not completed their family prior to gonadotoxic treatment for cancer or other diseases. As practical, low-cost fertility insurance, it should be offered to any young man who can collect semen and it provides essentially unlimited duration of fertility preservation. Learning points Gonadotoxic chemo or radiotherapy treatment for cancer or other diseases usually causes temporary or permanent male infertility. Sperm cryostorage serves as a practical, low-cost insurance to facilitate future paternity. All men who have not completed their families and are scheduled for gonadotoxic treatments should be offered sperm cryostorage. There is no lower age limit for young men who can collect semen. Sperm cryostorage offers essentially indefinite duration for the preservation of male fertility.