Before cancer treatment · Time sensitive
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and some surgeries can affect fertility, sometimes permanently. Freezing beforehand usually takes a day or two and does not delay the start of treatment. Here is what is involved, and what to ask your oncology team.
If you have just been told you need cancer treatment, fertility is probably not the first thing on your mind, and nobody expects it to be. But it is one of the few decisions that has to be made before treatment starts rather than after, which is why it is worth ten minutes now.
Chemotherapy, particularly alkylating agents, and radiotherapy to the pelvis or testes can reduce or stop sperm production. For some men that recovers over months or years. For others it does not. There is no reliable way to predict in advance which group you will be in.
Treatment can also damage the genetic material inside sperm that survive, which is why banking before the first cycle is advised rather than during or shortly after. A sample frozen today is simply a better sample than one frozen in six weeks.
In practice, most people are able to produce and freeze a sample within one to two days of getting in touch. Where more than one sample is wanted, those can usually be collected on consecutive days rather than waiting the usual two to seven days between them. The urgency is understood and the process is built around it.
This happens more often than people expect, and it is not a sign that something has gone wrong. Testicular cancer and some lymphomas affect sperm production before any treatment begins, so a low count at this stage is common and is not your fault.
Even a small number of sperm is worth freezing, because modern techniques need very few. Where no sperm is present in the sample at all, a urologist can sometimes retrieve sperm surgically. That procedure is done by your own surgical team, not by us. If they find sperm, we freeze and store it. We do not perform treatment of any kind, so there is nothing we gain from one answer over another.
Your oncologist decides when treatment starts and whether there is room to do this first. We do not advise on treatment sequencing and we never ask anyone to delay care. What we do is move quickly enough that the question rarely arises.
We are happy to speak to your treating doctor or the hospital directly if that is simpler for you, and to send a written confirmation of what has been stored for your file.
It is still worth asking. Freezing during or after treatment is less ideal, and we will tell you honestly what the sample looks like rather than take your money for something of limited value. In some situations it still makes sense, in others the better advice is to wait and test again after recovery. Either way you will get a straight answer.
Price is discussed openly on the first call, before you commit to anything, and what is stored is fixed and written down at the point of analysis so the storage cost never changes afterwards. We would rather you knew the full number up front than discovered it later, and for cancer cases we do not let the money question slow the freezing down.
If you want the wider picture first, read about fertility preservation before cancer treatment, the standard sperm freezing service, or what a sperm count test actually measures. If this is about a partner or a daughter, see egg freezing before cancer treatment.
Usually within one to two days of getting in touch. Where more than one sample is wanted, those can normally be collected on consecutive days rather than waiting the usual interval between them, because the treatment date comes first.
It should not. The process takes a day or two and runs alongside your treatment planning. Your oncologist decides the timing, and we work to whatever date they give us. We never ask anyone to delay care.
It is worth asking, though it is less ideal. Treatment can damage the genetic material inside sperm, so a sample frozen after starting may be of limited value. We will tell you honestly what the sample looks like rather than store something that will not help you.
This is common, particularly with testicular cancer and some lymphomas, and it happens before any treatment begins. Even a small number of sperm is worth freezing, because modern techniques need very few. Where no sperm is present, a urologist can sometimes retrieve sperm surgically, and we freeze whatever they find.
Sperm can be stored for many years without deterioration, because at cryogenic temperature biological activity effectively stops. Storage is renewed annually and you can transfer or discontinue it whenever you choose.
No. Cell Mate does preservation and diagnostic testing only. Your cancer care stays entirely with your own doctors, and if you later use what is stored, you can do that at any clinic in India or abroad.
Price is discussed openly on the first call. The number of vials stored is fixed and recorded at the point of analysis, so the storage cost does not change afterwards. For cancer cases we do not let the cost question hold up the freezing.
Yes. We are happy to speak to your treating doctor or the hospital, and to send written confirmation of what has been stored for your medical file. Many referrals reach us that way.
A short conversation now keeps an option open that cannot be reopened later. No pressure, and no commitment at any stage.
Call +91 98181 56283 →Cell Mate provides fertility preservation (egg and sperm freezing) and diagnostic testing only, not IVF or fertility treatment. Egg retrieval, where required, is performed by a licensed Level-2 ART/IVF partner. This page is general information, not medical advice. Cell Mate is a registered ART bank under the ART (Regulation) Act, 2021.
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