Sperm banking

Sperm banking is a fertility preservation method that collects, freezes, and stores healthy sperm. The sperm can be thawed months or years later when you’re ready to have a biological child. We can use your thawed sperm to fertilize a fresh or frozen egg from your partner or an egg donor.

Penn Medicine offers comprehensive infertility support and reproductive treatments, including intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF). We listen to your goals and help you understand how you can use your frozen sperm to build your future family.

Freezing and storing your sperm is a personal decision. There are many reasons why you may choose to, including:

• Age: Your sperm is healthiest in your late 20s and early 30s, meaning it’s best able to fertilize an egg. You may choose to freeze your sperm before the quality begins to decline.
• Medical treatments or procedures: You may want to freeze sperm before starting medical treatments that can alter your fertility. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and certain medications can impact sperm quality.
• Gender transition: Individuals transitioning from male to female (transgender women) may freeze sperm before starting hormone therapy or having gender-affirming surgery.
• High-risk occupation: If your job is high-risk or exposes you to hazardous substances, you may want to preserve your fertility with sperm banking.
• Vasectomy: Freezing sperm before a vasectomy preserves your ability to have a biological child, just in case you change your mind.

Sperm banking is less expensive than other fertility preservation methods. Costs include semen analysis, initial freezing, and an annual storage fee.

There are no eligibility requirements to freeze and store your own sperm to use when you choose.

Sperm banking for personal use is different than sperm donation. There are additional eligibility requirements for those who donate sperm anonymously or to a friend or family member.

There are several ways we collect semen for sperm banking. You can speak with your provider about what’s most comfortable for you or if you have any concerns about the collection process.

When you come to our office, we give you a private room. You may choose to be alone or with your partner. You’ll ejaculate by masturbating, collecting the semen in a sterile cup. Alternatively, we can give you a sterile cup to collect the semen sample at home. You must bring your sample to our clinic within a few hours of collection to preserve the sperm’s health.

You shouldn’t ejaculate for two to five days before collecting your semen sample. This ensures your sample will have the highest sperm count possible.

If you can’t ejaculate, you can still freeze your sperm. Penn Medicine’s experienced microsurgeons use advanced techniques to retrieve sperm from the testes.

Once we have your semen sample, our experienced embryologists do a semen analysis. This test tells us about the health of your sperm and screens for signs of male infertility.

We freeze your sperm using an advanced freezing method called vitrification. This method reduces the chance of your sperm being damaged during freezing and thawing. We store your sperm sample in our secure on-site lab. Our laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists, meeting their high quality and safety standards.

Although it’s uncommon, there’s a chance your sperm may not survive freezing and thawing. We recommend providing two or three samples for storage in case some of the sperm is damaged in the process.

There’s no risk of collecting semen samples through masturbation. If you need sperm retrieval surgery, your provider will discuss the risks and possible side effects with you before the procedure.

Our skilled team provides a seamless sperm banking experience, making it easy for you to preserve your fertility. From collection and analysis to freezing and storage, we take care of everything on-site, so you feel comfortable with the clinic and staff managing your sample.

When you’re ready to use your sperm, we carefully thaw and prepare it for the fertility treatment you’re using to start or grow your family.