Sperm cryopreservation is popular for artificial insemination . With the help of long-term storage of seminal fluid, IVF is simplified. The activity and functions of the ejaculate are maintained due to low temperatures - cooling occurs with liquid nitrogen. An innovative storage method allows you to restore living microorganisms even after ten years.
Why do you need a freezing effect
Sperm cryopreservation is recommended for people as a solution to infertility. The method becomes an outlet for women who do not want to make contact with a sick man. Freezing is relevant when there is a risk of transmission, but there is no threat to the unborn child.
Men can insure in the future with existing health threats:
- complications of chronic diseases of the genitourinary system;
- advanced oncology;
- upcoming surgery after injury;
- disability.
People want to preserve biological material before the upcoming operations, radiation or chemotherapy. Men also choose laboratory methods of freezing to insure women, before traveling to work with a high risk to life.
The method of vitrification preserves biological materials:
- sperm;
- embryos;
- blood cells;
- internal organs;
- ovules.
Sperm cryopreservation in Moscow is gaining popularity due to accessibility. More and more clinics offer services for the conservation of biological materials. People begin to use the procedure as a source of income, subject to excellent health. Donors are required for women and couples suffering from infertility.
Procedure Basics
Cells are protected from destruction by a special substance - a cryoprotectant. Without the use of a special substance, freezing would not be so successful.
But living organisms, when sperm cryopreservation is performed, are affected by negative factors:
- the formation of ice crystals inside the cell from the cell fluid;
- as a consequence of the first factor, dehydration is observed.
To prevent destruction of living cells, they are placed in cryoprotectant solutions. Substances of protection are divided according to purpose:
- penetrating - exclude crystallization of fluid inside the cells;
- non-penetrating - they become only an addition to the first type of protection, the purpose of which is to protect the cell from external negative factors.
The first group includes: ethylene glycol, dimethyl sulfoxide, propylene glycol. Additional substances are: sucrose, ficoll. The reverse process of thawing is accompanied by measures to free living cells from bonds with cryoprotectants.
Preparation and conduct of the procedure
Before cryopreservation of sperm is carried out, a complete examination of the state of the donor's body is carried out. The main analysis of the assessment of seminal fluid is a spermogram. The clinic carries out a trial test of freezing the material of a man. This is required to test the ability of the seed to recover after prolonged storage.
The so-called cryotest helps doctors evaluate the guarantees of getting healthy sperm. Additional tests are aimed at protecting the unborn child and his mother from infections:
- herpes simplex virus;
- hepatitis B and C;
- HIV infections
- syphilis.
At the request of the customer, a more complete examination of the donor can be carried out. Tests are carried out 20 minutes after the defrosting procedure. If all stages of the test were positive, the semen is mixed with cryoprotectant solutions and placed in a special storage.
How is biomaterial stored?
In containers where the treated seminal fluid is located , a temperature of -196 ° C must be maintained. Suitable conditions are achieved using a specific substance - liquid nitrogen.
Cryopreservation of human sperm is carried out in polypropylene tubes (Dewar vessels), where the biomaterial is stored. The capsule itself is placed in a container with liquid nitrogen.
Long-term storage is carried out for 3 years, at this time a contract is drawn up with the donor. It is allowed to move containers to other clinics at the discretion of the customer. This will require written confirmation of the desire to transport frozen semen. The patient is issued a document on the time of issue of the biomaterial.
The optimal shelf life of the ejaculate is set to three years. Exceeding the time does not guarantee the preservation of high-quality biomaterial, since the process of internal cell changes begins. Medicine does not yet have the ability to freeze indefinitely, so the donor decides to either continue to contain sperm in a container, or repeat the preservation procedure.
What determines the cost of the service
The prevalence of offers from private clinics raises the problem of choosing an honest organization conducting a quality procedure. Clinics can use the traditional method of freezing - this is a slow cryopreservation of sperm. The price of such a service differs slightly, but there are risks to damage the ejaculate. The method of vitrification is more common - the process of ultrafast conservation of biomaterial.
The average cost of the described service is about 10,400 rubles. and varies depending on the following factors:
- the prestige of the clinic, the number of services performed and positive reviews;
- cryopreservation method (slow freezing or vitrification);
- term of the contract - with full payment of a long time, the cost is significantly reduced;
- storage conditions (in a common tank or in a separate container).
For storage of the embryos for 1 month, you will have to pay 1,000 rubles, and placing the material in a separate storage facility for the same period will cost 4,000 rubles.
The history of the freezing method
Confidence in the procedure arose after the successful introduction of the cell and the birth of a healthy baby in the Netherlands. Events date back to 1984, when sperm cryopreservation was successfully tested. The technology has survived to our time, but there have been significant improvements in the freezing process.
Artificial insemination still causes negative emotions in society. The relevant questions remain:
- registration of the legal rights of the child, the establishment of motherhood and paternity;
- the ethical side of conception is preserved in an unnatural way;
- the society of individual eastern groups is not ready for a new way of life.
But, despite the existing problems, people are increasingly resorting to cryopreservation as a method of preserving the health of the future baby.