Why you should consider sperm banking.

Paternal age has increased dramatically in the US in the past 40 years, and the trend seems to be continuing. The average age of paternity has gone from 27.4 to 30.9 years in the last 40 years.

In the 1970s, 4% of births were to fathers over the age of 40; today that number is 9%. Also in the 1970’s one in two hundred births were to fathers over 50; today this number has doubled.

Spermatogonial stem cells are the cells that divide and split, over a man’s lifetime, to produce sperm. Spontaneous mutations occur, and then generally become present in all of a man’s sperm. It can be estimated that the sperm produced from a 25-year old male has undergone ∼350 replications, while ∼750 replications would have taken place to sustain sperm production in a 45-year old male.

On average, approximately 1–2 additional mutations arise in the genome of a child per additional year in the age of the father. Thus, the number of mutations doubles with every additional 20 years of paternal age.

Unfortunately, increased paternal age has significant negative effects on conception rates, pregnancy outcomes, and the health of the offspring. The children of older men are at higher risk for genetic disorders, congenital abnormalities, neurodevelopment disorders, and malignancies. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the American Urological Association have issued joint male infertility guidelines, which include the suggestion that; “Clinicians should advise couples with advanced paternal age (≥40 years) that there is an increased risk of adverse health outcomes for their offspring (3).”

For men who know they want children and are delaying them for a number of reasons, it is reasonable for these men to consider banking their sperm. Frozen sperm are not dividing and thus are not subject to the copying errors inherent in ongoing sperm production, which increase over time.

The optimum time for this banking is subjective and unclear. However, if a man at or over 35 is projecting it will be five or more years before attempting a conception, it may be wise to bank for him to bank his sperm.

Certain occupations expose men to increased heat or toxins, which can decrease sperm production.  These include:

• Industrial Chemicals
• Pesticides, heavy metals, painting materials
• Radiation Exposure-including X rays
• Increased Testicular Temperature: The testes need to stay below body temperature, which is why they are located outside a man’s body.  Frequent exposure to heat can cause a decrease in sperm production. Some examples include:
• –Truck driving for long periods of time
• –Professional Cooking (bakers, chefs, pizza makers)

In order for Men to make sperm, the testes need to be producing a very high concentration of testosterone. When Men go on TRT (take external testosterone), it will shut down a Man’s production of testosterone in his testes.
For this reason, t’s important for Men to consider banking sperm prior to treatment. Men who start on TRT feel dramatically better, so it can be difficult to stop treatment. Once a Man stops TRT, sperm production usually comes back, although this not guaranteed. (Especially if pre-treatment sperm production was very low to begin with).

Men who have a low testosterone with clinical symptoms can also be treated with selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM’s) or hCG to increase their production of testosterone, thereby preserving sperm production. However,  Men will report feeling better using TRT as opposed to using select estrogen receptor modulators.

For Men who are interested testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and are considering children in the future, we strongly recommend that men bank their sperm prior to starting treatment.

Certain medications are known to decrease sperm production and possibly increase the chance of abnormal offspring, both while you are taking them AND for the 6-12 months after you discontinue.

Here we have included a published table reviewing medications that can affect sperm production.

Specimens stored in two different tanks:

Almost all of our patients bank multiple vials. For virtually all of the patients, some of your vials will be kept in a tank in our Westchester office, and the rest in our NYC office. Though tank malfunctions are extremely rare, having two tanks builds in an extra safety net in case of an unforeseen disaster, either to a particular tank or a particular location.

Tank Monitoring:

It is highly recommended that the status of each and every tank be monitored continuously. Some labs have no tank monitoring, except periodic manual checks.

At Maze, each tank is continuously monitored 24/7/365. If the temperature or level falls, an alarm goes off, which then phones our lab technician or physician on call. The alarm system has a battery backup, and a generator back up as well.

We would suggest you ask any sperm bank you are thinking of using how they monitor their tanks.

Clinical Expertise:

Michael A. Werner, MD, the owner and Medical Director of Maze, is a board certified urologist, with a fellowship in male infertility, andrology, and male sexual dysfunction. He supervises the entire process of sperm banking, including helping decide how many vials to divide a particular specimen into, and how many times a man should bank. He works closely with the female infertility specialist when it comes time to use the vials. This comes from his knowledge base in the field of fertility as well as in his scientific knowledge of sperm production, analysis, processing, and freezing. His knowledge also often comes into play in situations where men have problems producing specimens.

Location:

Maze Cryobank has two locations. One is in Westchester County, in Purchase (right by the intersections of I-95, I-287, and the Hutchinson River Parkway.) The second is at 633 3rd Avenue (between East 40th and 41st Streets, three blocks from Grand Central Station in New York City.

Hours:

We have early morning and evening hours Monday-Friday. It is often important to get several specimens banked quickly before treatment begins. We go out of our way to make sure you can do this.