Preserve Your Fertility
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| Options for Men after Treatment What are the options for men after cancer treatment? After treatment is completed, an assessment needs to be made whether the man is producing any viable sperm. If a semen analysis shows any sperm at all, this is a favorable sign since sperm production will generally improve over time after treatment has stopped. If the semen analysis shows no sperm at all, the semen analysis should be repeated in a lab that has experience looking for very small numbers of sperm, for example, in In-Vitro Fertilization or Assisted Reproductive Technologies laboratory. Sometimes, if the semen is centrifuged, a very small number of viable sperm can be detected. Even very small numbers can be used for In-Vitro Fertilization with ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection). In the ICSI procedure, individual sperm are injected directly into the eggs. Occasionally sperm production will return to normal over time. Return of fertility has been reported as late as 7 years after bone marrow transplantation. For men who have no sperm in the ejaculate following treatment, there are fertility options available. Microdissection testicular sperm extraction is a surgical procedure to retrieve sperm directly from the testis for use with in-vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection. This procedure is performed by select Urologists who specialize in male infertility and is carefully coordinated with the female partner's egg retrieval. However, for those men who sperm production seems to be permanently damaged, artificial insemination of the female partner using donor sperm is an option to consider. There are several large sperm banks in the country. The donors are carefully screened with respect to their personal health and family histories. The semen is tested for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and then quarantined for six months. The donor is then rechecked for HIV, hepatitis, etc. and the semen is released only if all the testing is negative. Using these large sperm banks, it is usually possible to match the physical characteristics of the male partner and often the hobbies or interests. |
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