Preserving Fatherhood for Young Male Cancer Patients

The success of curing men of reproductive age with cancer is improving rapidly. The advancements in assisted reproductive technology have greatly enhanced the chances for men having undergone cancer treatment to now look forward to fatherhood and family. Pregnancies have been reported from the use of thawed semen that had been frozen and stored for 20 years prior to use.

To accommodate male cancer patients of childbearing age who are newly diagnosed with cancer, semen cryopreservation is offered as a safeguard against the potential of sterility associated with chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. This service can be accessed at the Women's Clinic, Ltd. within days of the initial call. While it is advantageous for patients to bank all semen specimens prior to beginning therapies that can result in sterility, recent studies have shown that viable samples can be collected in the early stages of some treatments. Other men who would benefit are those undergoing vasectomy.

Laboratory blood testing is required to guarantee the absence of infectious diseases. Once the samples are collected, evaluated and frozen at the Women's Clinic, Ltd. , they will be transferred to Fairfax Cryobank for long-term storage. Fairfax Cryobank has established national networks in the United States and Canada of well-respected infertility centers to collect and freeze cancer patients' semen samples prior to commencement of cancer treatment and chemotherapies. Women's Clinic, Ltd. is a local, long-standing member of their U.S. network. Fairfax Cryobank, a division of Genetics & IVF Institute (www.givf.com), has long-term storage facilities in both Philadelphia, PA and Fairfax, VA. In operation since 1986, Fairfax Cryobank is one of the largest and most respected cryobanks in the country. Fertility preservation services will be a tremendous help to both cancer patients and to the physicians who treat them – urologists, hematologists, oncologists and radiation specialists.