Men’s options after cancer treatment

When cancer treatment is finished, your semen will be analysed to check the number of sperm, the quality of the sperm, and their ability to move (motility). For more on this, see Assessing fertility after treatment.

Sometimes men who temporarily stop producing sperm recover the ability to produce it. However, if sperm production isn’t restored over time, you are considered permanently infertile. You may feel a sense of loss – see Emotional impact to learn some coping strategies that may help.

If you aren’t sure what you want to do but are still fertile, you may want to consider banking some sperm. However, it is generally recommended that this is done before cancer treatment starts. Your fertility specialist will advise you about this.

Learn more about:

• Natural conception
• Intrauterine insemination (IUI)
• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
• Donor sperm
• Finding information about the donor
• Using donor sperm

Listen to our podcasts on Sex and Cancer and Coping with a Cancer Diagnosis

Natural conception

Your medical team might advise you to try for a baby naturally after finishing cancer treatment. Your fertility specialist will talk to you about factors to consider, including:

• if sperm counts and motility are close to normal
• the age of your partner – for example, an older woman may be less

If you would like to try to conceive naturally, speak with your cancer specialist first. You may be advised to wait six months to two years before fathering a child. The length of time depends on the type of cancer and the treatment you had.

Intrauterine insemination (IUI)

Also called artificial insemination, this technique may be used if you have a low sperm count after treatment. Frozen sperm are thawed, washed and put in a sterile solution. To be used for IUI, samples must contain at least 2 million active sperm after thawing. The faster-moving sperm will be separated from the slower sperm.

Once a woman is ovulating, the sperm are inserted into her uterus through the cervix using a small, soft tube (catheter). The procedure takes only a few minutes and may cause some mild discomfort.

If IUI is successful, fertilisation occurs and the woman will have a positive pregnancy test within a few weeks.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

This is a specialised type of IVF. In intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.

Using IVF, an egg is extracted from a woman and a good quality sperm is selected. The sperm is then injected into the egg. A fertility specialist can provide you with more information.

Donor sperm

If you are infertile after cancer treatment, using donor sperm is another way to become a parent. You can access sperm in two ways:

• known donation – this is where the donor and recipient know each other, g. a friend or family member

• clinic donation – the recipient does not know the Most fertility clinics in Australia have access to sperm, or you can find your own donor. You may also be able to use sperm from overseas. All donors have to go through the same health and counselling laws required under Australian law.

Using donor sperm

Sperm donors are men who have voluntarily contributed sperm to a fertility clinic. They are not paid for their donation, but may receive payment for travel or medical expenses. The men are usually between 21 and 45 years old.

Personal information is collected about donors, including:

• 2–4 generations of family medical history
• details about their ethnicity, educational background, hobbies, skills and occupation
• health information, including infectious diseases status, drug use and blood

Samples are screened for genetic diseases or abnormalities, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and overall quality, then quarantined for several months. Before the sperm is cleared for use, the donor is rescreened for infectious diseases. The sperm is then frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen in individual containers.

When the sperm is ready to be used, insemination is usually done in a fertility clinic. The sample is thawed to room temperature and inserted directly into the woman’s uterus using the IUI process. Before this process, the woman may be given hormones to prepare her body and increase the chances of pregnancy.