Fast-freezing gives sperm a better chance

A NEW technique for rapidly freezing sperm could offer hope to couples undergoing IVF, researchers have announced.

Experts found that fast-freezing sperm preserves far more of its quality and ability to swim towards an egg than the slow-freezing method currently in use.

They hope the technique could help men with low sperm counts as well as those having their sperm frozen before undergoing cancer treatment.

The study, by experts in Chile and Germany, will be presented at the World Congress of Fertility and Sterility in Munich.

Current slow-freezing techniques have several drawbacks, and retain only about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of sperm activity, or motility.

But rapid freezing - also known as vitrification - allows that figure to rise to almost 80 per cent. Vitrification is already used to quick-freeze eggs and embryos with success.

Following thawing, more eggs and embryos survive with vitrification.

Some men with low sperm counts fail to produce a good enough sample when it is time for IVF. The new technique could also allow several samples to be put together as one.