The world’s oldest preserved sperm sample has been used to make a baby!
Back in 1992, Australian Alex Powell was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the age of 15.
Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a type of cancer which affects the lymphatic system – a part of the immune system.
Symptoms of this disease may include fever, night sweats, weight loss as well as non-painful swollen lymph nodes in the neck, under the arm, or in the groin area.
As a teen Mr. Powell had to undergo chemotherapy which would treat the cancer but would leave him sterile for the rest of his life.
Alex’s stepmother had a brilliant idea that would work around this problem however. They would freeze some of his sperm just in case he ever wanted a child in the future.
Although freezing and storing sperm has been around for a while, it’s a fairly difficult thing to achieve. Sometimes the semen doesn’t survive the freezing process.
Luckily Alex’s semen survived the process and has been in storage for over 2 decades!
Soon enough he met the love of his life and got married
Then through the procedure called “In Vitro Fertilization” (IVF), they were able to make a baby with the world’s oldest sperm sample.
IVF is a common and effective type of ART or assisted reproductive technology which helps women get pregnant if the natural method is unavailable.
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