Men may want to freeze their sperm prior to:

• Treatments known to harm sperm production such as treatments for cancer and other serious medical conditions

• Testicular or prostate surgery

• Hormone replacement therapy, including testosterone therapy

• A vasectomy

• Military deployment

• Couples who live far apart or frequently travel, frozen sperm can then be used to facilitate fertility treatments

A sperm sample can be collected for analysis and freezing by:

• Ejaculation: Semen can be collected by masturbation in a private room at our facility, or the patient can bring a sample collected at home to our lab. The sample can also be collected at home via intercourse using a special condom.

• From Urine: If the nerves that are needed to ejaculate semen or close the valve at the entrance to the bladder are damaged, the semen does not come out of the penis during orgasm. Instead, it flows backward into his bladder (retrograde ejaculation). Sperm can be collected from the urine of these men.

• Surgical Sperm Retrieval: For men who do not have sperm in their semen, a surgical procedure can be performed. These procedures include: percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA), microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA), testicular sperm extraction (TESE), and micro-TESE.