For many men, it is possible to preserve their fertility by storing sperm (sperm banking). If your sperm is suitable and you would like to store some for the future, you will need to produce a number of sperm samples over a period of a few days. These can be frozen and stored for some time by the hospital. When you want to father a child, your sperm can be thawed and used to artificially inseminate your partner.

Unfortunately, not every man has sperm suitable for banking. To be successfully stored, a sample must contain a certain number of active sperm cells, which would be able to fertilise a female egg. However, new techniques now make it possible for less active sperm to be effective. Active sperm can also sometimes be taken from the testes, even when there are none in the semen.

It is best to discuss possible sperm storage with your doctor before your treatment starts, so that tests can be done to check your sperm count.

For many patients with cancer, the cancer unit will provide free sperm banking, but if the hospital has to pay for this service they may charge you. The costs vary between hospitals.

If your doctor feels that it is important to start chemotherapy treatment very soon, there may not be enough time to arrange for sperm banking to be done before treatment starts.