What is Sperm Freezing?
Sperm freezing is the process of freezing the sperm from the male in a laboratory environment for later use in IVF treatments.
Sperm freezing is performed under the following conditions:
• Prior to chemotherapy in cancer treatments
• Prior to surgery or use of medication that may damage the sperm
• In patients with a low sperm count and who might have trouble producing sperm in the future,
• In men experiencing ejaculation problems due to spinal cord injuries,
• Sperm freezing can be performed during IVF treatments if the male cannot be at the centre or deliver the sperm at the time of treatment.
How is sperm freezing performed?
1. Sperm Collection
Sperm freezing requires the collection of a sperm sample from the male. There are two ways of collecting the sperm sample. First, you can give sperm through masturbation in the sperm collection rooms in our clinics. In cases of low sperm count or when the patient cannot produce a sample on request, sperm can be collected through surgical intervention. It is possible to collect sperm from the testes through the MESA, TESA, and PESA procedures. These procedures are performed under local or general anaesthesia.
Before the sperm collection, a three-day sexual abstinence period is necessary. During this time, men should not have any sexual intercourse nor ejaculate through masturbation. It is wrong to extend the period of abstinence in hopes of increasing the sperm count, because while sperm count increases during longer periods of abstinence, sperm mobility and quality decrease.
2. Semen Analysis
The collected sperms are analysed before the freezing process. In the semen analysis, sperm count, mobility and structure are evaluated. Thus, the healthiest sperms are selected and frozen.
Normal sperm values are as shown in the table below:
| PARAMETRE | NORMAL VALUES |
| Volume | >2.0ml |
| Sperm Concentration | >20 million sperms / ml |
| Normal Morphology (shape) | >14% |
| Motility | >50% |
If the quality of the collected sample is poor, your doctor may require you to produce another sperm sample. After the analysis, the collected sperms are frozen at -197 Celsius using a specially formulated sperm freezing fluid. Your sperms can be stored safely in liquid nitrogen for many years.
Where can the sperm freezing process be performed?
For the sperm freezing process to be effective and safe, it should be performed by an experienced team in a laboratory whose technological infrastructure is as advanced as possible. Within our health group, we perform successfully all the methods whose efficiency has been proven. Thanks to our experience and technological infrastructure, we achieve successful results in sperm freezing and thawing processes.
How much does Sperm Freezing cost?
Due to the current legislation, we cannot publish our sperm freezing price information on our website. To learn more about our current price information and to have a free pre-consultation with our doctors, please fill in our contact form or call us at +90 444 3 949.
