Home Saving sperm?

[radiantquest]

My husband is doing chemo for a desmoid tumor. They told him that it can cause him to become sterile. They said that if it is possible that we would want children in the future that we should freeze some. I don''t think we will want children down the road, but you never know. Is it expensive? I heard that it is. There is an up front fee and then monthly payments to keep it? Has anyone done this? How much does it cost? How long can it be saved?

 

[somethingshiny]

First off, I''m so sorry you''re going through all of this. You''re in my prayers.

My cousin went through prostate cancer. I remember at the time (several years ago) the doctor recommended freezing embryos as opposed to sperm. I''m not sure why, but you may want to look into it. In the end, they didn''t freeze anything. They didn''t want "babies on hold" and weren''t hopeful about just freezing sperm. They did go on to have 6 children.

I do think it''s smart to really consider your options. Your views on parenthood could change drastically someday and that would be an awful thing to come between you and your DH. Of course, there''s always adoption, too.

Good luck to you both!

 

[swimmer]

Just wanted to add support for you and your DH. I hope you are taking care of yourself and that your husband''s treatment is successful. Cancer is so unfair.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I am sorry you guys are going through this.

I think you will have to pay a fee to keep the sperm, but I don''t think it is an unreasonable cost. I think if you have any thought of having kids in the future, it would be worth your time to do this.

 

[drk]

I think first I''d have a discussion with DH about what you might want in the future. If you''re a little on the fence about having kids, discuss whether he''d be opposed to donor sperm, should he become infertile from the chemo. Donor sperm can get expensive too, though.
You should also call around to some fertility clinics near where you live to ask about pricing. It''s not a traumatic process for the man (though my DH didn''t much enjoy it, we lived close enough to the clinic that he could produce at home, and drop it off at the clinic). We decided to freeze a backup specimen before our IVF-ICSI cycle, just to take the pressure off him when the time came for the fresh specimen. I think it cost us $250 Cdn for the freezing + first year''s storage, though I think they only get about 2 straws out of a usual specimen after the wash, so you might be wanting to freeze more than one sample. I think the storage fee after that is less, though I can''t remember offhand what it is. Different clinics have different fee schedules, so you may be able to find one that''s less expensive. In the grand scheme of things, it''s likely not a ton of money, and it may be worth paying for the next 5-6 years, until you find out what effect the chemo has had on his sperm, and until you''ve definitively decided whether you want kids or not. Hopefully the clinic will also be able to recommend how many samples to freeze.
It''s definitely far less expensive to freeze just his sperm than to do an IVF cycle to freeze the embryos, which you''d probably have to do if it were you who were about to undergo chemo.
Hope he flies through the chemo!