Baby Born From 21 Year Old Sperm

A baby girl was born in March of this year who was the result of sperm frozen for twenty-one years. The fertility specialists who performed the IVF cycle believe this ties the record for the longest frozen sperm used to create a baby. The father, who is now thirty-eight years old, froze his sperm when he was just sixteen years old before undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia. He has now been in remission for over twenty years. The other record holder baby was born in August 2008 and was also a girl. Her father froze his sperm when he was twenty-four before undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease.

Childhood cancer treatment has improved dramatically resulting in a greater number of survivors. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy may cause temporary or permanent infertility. Surprisingly even though freezing sperm has proven to be highly effective, many cancer survivors report that discussion of reproductive options with young male cancer patients is not standard procedure.