Sperm Freezing

Definitely not! And this is a general misconception! Each day a different group of follicles starts growing in a woman’s ovaries. The recruitment of these follicles and their first phase of growth are independent from hormones. When these follicles reach a certain size, their growth becomes dependent on hormones. The biggest and strongest of these follicles starts “taking all the hormones” produced by the woman’s body and continues to grow alone while the other follicles do not have “enough hormones” and die. The injection of hormones used during ovarian stimulation saves these follicles from dying but does not lead to recruiting more oocytes from the ovaries.

Thousands of clinical trials have been trying to answer this question. It is admitted that hormones that are injected during ovarian stimulation are not toxic and are unlikely to cause cancer. On the other hand it is strongly believed that hormones promote cancer in people that are suffering from it without knowing.

Spermatogenesis requires approximately 73 days. So, the sperm that starts being produced today in the testes will be ejaculated in 73 days. So, any treatment for male fertility should be taken for at least 3 months. And any treatment or environmental factor that affects male fertility, like exposure of the testes to high temperature or exposure to toxic chemicals or hormones or even treatments, should be stopped for 3 months in order for fertility to be restored.

Teratozoospermia or the presence of a high percentage of abnormal sperm forms in the semen does not lead to a high risk of chromosomal abnormalities in the embryos. Teratozoospermia, decreases the chances of natural pregnancy as it reduces the capacity of the sperm cells to get to the egg and penetrate it. ICSI allows to completely surpass this problem and the embryos obtained have the same risk of chromosomal abnormalities as in natural pregnancy.

The duration of freezing does not affect embryo or egg quality. One day of freezing is equivalent to a hundred years. In the past a lot of embryos or eggs used to degenerate during the freezing or the thawing process. However, with the emergence of vitrification, egg and embryo survival rates have become higher than 90%. Few months ago, a baby was born from an embryo that was frozen 30 years ago.

Masturbation does not affect fertility nor in men nor in women. In men, the testicles produce sperm cells non-stop and they are stored in the epididymis. When the fluid is released through masturbation, the epididymis quickly refills with new sperm cells.

Abstinence from any ejaculation is required for 3 days before undergoing semen analysis. If the abstinence is longer, sperm cells will accumulate in the epididymis, concentration will be higher but motility and quality will be reduced. While if the abstinence is lower, concentration will appear reduced but quality and motility will appear good. During the IVF process, very few sperm cells are required, so the less the abstinence the better to have the most fresh sperm cells with the best quality. Same applies when we want to do a sperm DNA fragmentation test. The less the abstinence the better.

Most Sunnis agree that egg donation is not permissible, while the majority of Shiite authorities consider it permissible.