Reasons to bank sperm
There are many reasons to bank (freeze or store) sperm. Some people store sperm for “back up” before fertility treatment for clinical or psychological reasons. Some men freeze sperm before having a vasectomy. Some armed forces personnel store sperm before deployment. But the biggest reason for sperm banking is before medical treatment that can make a person infertile, for example:
- Chemotherapy or radiotherapy
- Urological surgery e.g. prostate, bladder
- Spinal surgery
- Gender re-assignment
IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL AND WISH TO REFER A PATIENT FOR SPERM BANKING, PLEASE READ HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Funding for sperm banking
To qualify for NHS-funded sperm banking, the patient must meet the criteria laid down by the local funding bodies, the ICB’s (Integrated Care Boards). Your ICB depends on where your registered GP is. In general, the East Midlands region (Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire) will provide some funding for those who are at risk of long term infertility, but each individual ICB has its own funding criteria that must be met to qualify for NHS funded sperm storage. We are happy to explain the criteria for your ICB.
If you meet the criteria laid out by your ICB, you can be referred by the specialist or department who are looking after you. Please note – patients receiving treatment in the private sector do not qualify for NHS funded sperm storage, referrals can only be made by NHS services, for patients undergoing NHS treatment that has the potential to make you infertile. If you are being seen privately because you have private health insurance you should enquire with your insurance provider if they cover fertility preservation – many do not.
However, you don’t have to be referred by a doctor to bank sperm at NUH Life – anyone can have their sperm banked by referring themselves to the clinic on a self-funded basis. Click here for our up to date price list.
If you qualify for NHS funding this will generally cover a maximum period of 10 years, providing there is a continued fertility problem. You may be required to provide evidence of your infertility after the first 5 years, but we will contact you to arrange this when necessary.
NB: Please be aware that those patients with a Staffordshire ICB are only funded for 5 years in total
Sperm banking process
You may be referred for sperm banking by your doctor (if your storage will be NHS-funded) or you can call us directly to arrange an appointment if you are self-funding.
We will arrange an appointment with you and give you some written information to read prior to your appointment. When you attend you are welcome to bring a partner or another person for support, and you will have lots of opportunities to ask questions.
We recommend that you abstain from ejaculation for 2-3 days (and no longer than 7 days) before your appointment, where possible.
Your first appointment will be around 1-1.5 hours and consist of:
- Information provision and completion of the legally required consent forms
- Semen sample production (preferably on site at the clinic). You may also choose to produce your sample at home and bring to the clinic if time allows, we will discuss this with you at your initial consultation.
- Blood test for HIV and Hepatitis (if not already performed)
We always aim to collect 2 separate ejaculates from you, with a minimum of 2-3 days between the samples. However sometimes if your treatment is starting urgently we may not have time to do this.
Sperm banking follow-up
For oncology patients, we recommend a repeat semen analysis 12 months after your treatment is finished. We can then advise you on your current fertility status, whether to continue storage and whether you would need to use the samples in future, and how you might do so. You can contact us directly to book this appointment.
It is very important that we stay in touch with you throughout the storage period. From time to time, we will send out a standard letter as a reminder that we still have your sperm in our freezer. We check the following:
- Are aware that we still have your sperm in storage?
- Do you still want them to be kept in storage?
- Would you like to change or update your consent forms?
- Have you had a recent sperm test or would you like to book one?
We can’t stress enough how important it is that you keep in touch with us and answer any correspondence. Because it is against the law to store sperm without a valid consent, we have a legal duty to ensure all our records are up to date. In the worse-case scenario, some patient samples have been disposed of because the patient failed to respond. For this reason we are very grateful for you responding to our letters and keeping us informed with your latest address/contact details.
If you are at all concerned about samples you have in storage, or the consent forms you completed at the time of storage, please don’t hesitate to contact our laboratory team on: [email protected]