Trial processing of sperm and cryopreservation of sperm samples

Sometimes the sperm quality determined by the initial diagnosis is of borderline quality and it is hard to decide which therapy (insemination, IVF, ICSI) would be the couple’s best option. In these cases, trial processing of sperm can help making the decision:

We will then process the sperm for purely diagnostic purposes and go through exactly the same steps as if we were planning to perform insemination, IVF or ICSI. Depending on how many sperm cells with good motility can be obtained, we will then recommend one of these therapies.

Cryopreservation of sperm samples:

Sometimes, the man has either no or very few sperm cells (azoospermia or cryptozoospermia) in successive sperm samples. In these cases, too, it may be helpful to carry out – sometimes multiple – sperm processing. The samples containing some sperm cells can then be frozen (cryopreserved) and used for subsequent ICSI treatment. In this way, it is sometimes possible to avoid the surgical extraction of sperm from the testicles (TESE, see below).