We’re going to be honest with you: figuring out how to transport sperm from your house to our lab for analysis was not easy! Once sperm are exposed to the open air, they start to slow down (decreased motility) and die off. However, we knew how important it was to be able to solve this problem! Most men are uncomfortable going into a fertility clinic for a sperm analysis. Creating a solution where samples could be collected at-home was our goal.
How accurate and safe is semen transportation? How good is the preservative?
So, how long do sperm survive for outside the body? It depends on the conditions. In a normal setting (outside the body), sperm can live up to 30 minutes. For the transportation problem that we had to solve, we knew that we had to do a little more research. There are many preservatives on the fertility market. However, many of them require refrigeration. Refrigeration adds another layer of complexity to the transportation problem. We began working with Cryobank America in Arlington, TX to develop a solution. Together, we were able to create a solution that is able to preserve the sperm motility and sperm count during the overnight trip from the customer’s house to the lab.
What about storage and what should my expectations be?
Sperm storage is an option that we will soon be offering our customers. Before we store our customer’s sperm sample, we always run an analysis. If the results come back good, we approve the sample for storage.
We go above and beyond to ensure that your sample is viable and secure. The last thing that anyone wants to go to retrieve their sample to only find out that the sample is not usable. Storing sperm is a very important step in your life, and we do everything we can to simplify the process for you.