Sperm Banking After I Was Diagnosed with CKD

After I was diagnosed with CKD in 2009, I was told that I should consider sperm banking for the future if I wanted to have children. I was told this was because my CKD treatment may impact my sperm count and could potentially cause me to become infertile. At the time, I was only 18 years old and having children was not something I was thinking about. If it was up to me, I probably would not have done anything about it, but luckily my mum and my family had me consider how different my life would be down the road. Would I eventually want children? I wasn't sure at the time, but I am very thankful to my family giving me that advice.

Agreeing to freeze my sperm

When I agreed that I would freeze my sperm, the hospital arranged for me to come in. It was a very strange appointment. I had to go into the andrology department and then I was given a room where I would need to produce some sperm samples on different days which would then be frozen, should I not be able to have children naturally due to my CKD. This would be my back up plan. My first time, I struggled to produce a sample because I had just been diagnosed and there was a lot of stress going on in my mind at this time.

Luckily, I was told to come back another time to produce my sample instead. The second time around, I managed to produce a sample and I was told it would be stored for up to 10 years. So, if I could not have children naturally, I could got in contact with the lab and use the samples I already had stored. Like I mentioned, I was 18 at the time and I was in no way ready to even think about having children, but the fact I knew I had the option made me content with the situation and helped me overcome it easier. I continued on with my life and my treatments for CKD. In 2016, I met my now wife and we started to think about the future together, and whether we would need to use the samples I had stored all of those years ago.

Trying for a child

A few years ago, in 2020, my wife and I decided that we wanted to try for a child, and the 10 year mark since freezing my sperm was approaching. The lab got in contact with me to ask me what I wanted to do with the samples, because if I did not want to use them, they would just dispose them. We decided to try the IVF (in-vitro fertilization) route because I thought instead of letting the samples go to waste, we can use them and then in the future, there still could be a chance of having children naturally. So, we decided to go for it.

I had to go back to the lab and produce some new samples so they could see which ones would be stronger when we proceeded with the IVF. We went through all the different tests and scans and my wife actually got pregnant but unfortunately, after a few months she had a miscarriage and lost the baby which was really upsetting and disappointing.

Has anyone else here ever considered freezing their sperm?