In normal circumstances sperms die within a few hours outside the body and within 72 hours inside the body.  But it can be stored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of – 270degrees without much loss.  These sperms can be used for artificial insemination at a later date.

Sperm banking with husband’s sperms: Quite often, the couple may be living separate owing to job pressures, meeting only for a couple of months.  If the couple is not able to achieve pregnancy during these months, it is possible to store the husband’s semen in liquid nitrogen for future use in the huband’s absence.  Prerequisites: The husband should have a fairly good sperm count if it has to be used for artificial insemination, as  30% of sperms are lost at time of storage.

Sperm banking with donor sperms:  

Some men may have no sperms in the ejaculate or in the testes. In these instances the couple may ask for insemination with donor sperms. Selected donors are screened for major communicable diseases like HIV, Jaundice, Syphyllis etc and their semen is collected , processed, cryopreserved and kept in liquid nitrogen after labeling each sample. The label contains a code. The details of the man like colour of skin, hair, blood group, built etc are noted , and thus donors can be selected according to physical characteristics.  After storing the samples they are quarantined for a period of 6 months so that the latent period of HIV virus incubation is over.  After making sure that the donor is HIV negative once again, the samples are released for use.

Procedure: The procedure of insemination is the same as for intrauterine insemination with husband’s sperms.  The wife is stimulataed with drugs to produce many ova. She has to undergo ultrasound scanning every alternate days from the 10^th day of menstrual period.  

When the follicle containing the egg is found to be mature, an injection is given to trigger ovulation. 

  Insemination is done 36 hours after this injection. 

On the day of insemination, a matching sample is taken out from the cryocan containing the sperms and kept in the incubator till it thaws into a liquid form.  It is then drawn into a cannula and placed inside the wife’s uterus.