THAW SPERM & REFREEZE

Hopeful THopeful T Posts: 2
in Ask California Cryobank
I went in for IUI today but follicle wasnt ready. The lab had already thawed the sperm so they refroze it. Is it useless now ?? Im so frustrated

Comments

  • cryo-admincryo-admin Posts: 4,538
    Hi HT -

    I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

    Since the lab thawed and refroze the specimen, our specimen guarantee would no longer apply to that vial. But all hope is not lost.

    I checked with our technical director and he mentioned that it is still possible for sperm samples to be refrozen and maintain a high proportion of their post-thaw motility. (If it was just thawed and the contents were still in the vial, it could simply be placed back into liquid nitrogen vapor and refrozen. If was washed/diluted it would need to be re-processed for freezing, and then frozen again.) In either case, some additional loss in motility (approx 30-50%) would be expected each time you freeze the specimen.

    Please keep in mind that studies have shown that 5 million motile donor sperm, and more recently 2 million motile donor sperm show no significant differences in pregnancy outcome (from IUI) when compared to higher quantities. Our vial standards are set generously above this mark.

    It might not hurt to discuss this concern with your clinic, as patient-physician communication is an important part of the donor insemination process.

    Regards,

    Nicole
    CCB
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