Freezing Your Fellows

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

Freezing sperm Los Angeles

Looking for a great investment in dire times? Our national fertility organization just declared that the technique of freezing a woman’s eggs is now safe and effective.

Banking fertilized eggs or embryos after IVF procedures has been de rigueur for three decades. However, freezing unfertilized eggs from the ovaries of young women to maintain fertility later in life is a relatively recent concept, but one that is now routine clinical practice and no longer experimental. Advice for surviving the upcoming fiscal cliff? Invest in commodities: save eggs, not money.

Since this idea first gained traction, the science of fertility preservation has continued to evolve. Modern cryopreservation techniques now produce excellent post-thaw survival rates, and sperm frozen today can remain viable for decades without meaningful decline in quality. Current data suggest that properly frozen sperm retain fertilizing potential comparable to fresh samples when used with IVF–ICSI. In other words, sperm banking is no longer experimental — it is reliable, established, and widely used in cancer care and reproductive planning.

What About Sperm?

If woman are now cleared for egg banking to protect their fertility, should men do the same with their sperm? Possibly, but the outlook is different with sperm. Women are born with all the eggs that they will ever have, whereas men normally make 1000 new sperm per heartbeat. Sperm are regenerated throughout a man’s life whereas eggs lie dormant in a bank that is slowly (but dramatically) losing balance and interest. If you’re wondering why so many sperm are needed, well it’s because men don’t like to ask for directions.

Reasons to Bank Sperm

Successful freezing and thawing of sperm was first reported over a hundred years ago: it is tried and true technology. Here are reasons to consider banking sperm as a young man:

  • Your future fertility is threatened. Things like brittle diabetes, cancer treatments and long-term anabolic steroid use can deal serious if not lethal blows to future fertility. Sperm banking is strongly recommended in the face of these threats.
  • Sperm counts decline with age. Honestly, semen quality doesn’t change all that much as men age. Semen volume and sperm motility fall, but at rates <1% annually. Not a great investment choice.
  • You’re not sure that you want kids. You’re finding condoms to be “so high school” and the idea of having a vasectomy has crossed your mind. But, you don’t want to shut the door completely, in case Mrs. Right comes along. Unfortunately, there is no truly reversible male contraceptive (although vasectomy reversal comes pretty close). Banking sperm is a good investment here.
  • The decision to bank sperm today is often more nuanced than it was a decade ago. Men facing chemotherapy or radiation are strongly advised to freeze sperm beforehand, as cancer treatments can permanently impair production. Others consider banking prior to vasectomy, before starting testosterone or anabolic steroids, or when planning long-term gender-affirming hormone therapy. Increasingly, men delaying fatherhood into their 40s or 50s are also asking whether freezing sperm earlier may reduce age-related DNA changes. While paternal age effects remain uncommon, research does show higher rates of certain neurodevelopmental and genetic conditions with advancing paternal age. For some men, sperm banking offers peace of mind during these life transitions.
  • Older sperm lead to unhealthy offspring. Now here’s a hot topic. New studies suggest a strong link between paternal age and disease in offspring. Issues like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism have all been convincingly linked to older paternal age (>50 years). In addition, offspring with chromosomal issues and single-gene diseases increase with a father’s age. What’s comforting, though, is that these conditions in offspring are very uncommon, even with older fathers, occurring at rates much less than 5% among 70-year old fathers. Furthermore, no proactive testing is currently recommended for older men to assess the risk of transmitting these conditions. For these reasons, banking sperm for paternal age issues is a very personal decision.

Practically speaking, frozen sperm can be stored long term with stable viability, and many clinics recommend periodic review of storage plans rather than repeated “re-freezing.” Lifestyle factors before banking (such as avoiding heat exposure, limiting tobacco and heavy alcohol use, and addressing varicocele or hormonal issues) can optimize the quality of the frozen sample. For men unsure about future fertility goals, a consultation can help clarify whether sperm banking is a proactive safeguard or simply unnecessary insurance.

Although cheaper, easier and much more fun to bank than eggs, sperm is an equally precious resource if you ask my patients. To many, in the words of Monty Python: “Every sperm is sacred.” Ponder this as you freeze your fellows.

Schedule a Consultation

If you’re considering sperm banking—whether for medical, personal, or future family planning reasons—a thoughtful evaluation can help clarify your best options. Schedule a consultation with Dr. Turek in Los Angeles or San Francisco to discuss fertility preservation tailored to your specific goals and health history Call 1-888-TUREKMD.