Achieving pregnancy against the odds: successful implantation of frozen–thawed embryos generated by ICSI using spermatozoa banked prior to chemo/radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease and acute leukaemia: Case Report

Two cases are reported of successful pregnancies following long-term semen banking prior to chemotherapy and radiotherapy for malignancy. With the first case, the patient banked semen at the age of 20 years prior to chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease; 11 years later the thawed semen was used for IVF with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), resulting in twins being born following the transfer of frozen–thawed embryos. In the second case, the patient banked semen at the age of 17 years prior to chemotherapy and radiotherapy for acute myeloid leukaemia; 8 years later it was used for ICSI, resulting in triplets being born following the transfer of frozen–thawed embryos. These cases support long-term semen banking for men whose future fertility may be compromised by suppression of spermatogenesis secondary to administration of chemo/radiotherapy treatment. The advent of successful ICSI combined with embryo cryopreservation has increased the chance of thawed cryopreserved semen achieving fertilization. Banking of a single ejaculate prior to commencement of chemotherapy/radiotherapy treatment may preserve potential fertility without compromising the oncology treatment.