Twins born from 13-year-old frozen sperm

Nov 10 2008

Reports from Taiwan say the sperm taken from a man with testicular cancer 13 years ago has been successfully used to impregnate his wife.

The man was diagnosed with testicular cancer when he was 23, and sperm was taken and frozen before chemotherapy was used to treat the cancer as it was expected to render him infertile.

The 13-year-old frozen sperm of the former testicular cancer patient was used to artificially inseminate his wife who gave birth to healthy twin boys.

Chen, now age 36, has completely recovered from the cancer and is in good health and his wife became pregnant with two of the four banked embryos following a 37-week pregnancy.

Testicular cancer is an abnormal, rapid, and invasive cancer of the testicles and is one of the most common forms of cancer in young men 15 to 40 years old, accounting for 1% of all cancers in men.

Between 6,000 and 8,000 men are diagnosed with testicular cancers each year and treatment can involve surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy and in most cases fertility is compromised.

As testicular cancer strikes men at an age when most want to father children, nerve-sparing surgery and sperm banking is recommended by most doctors.