HUMAN SPERM BANKING - SERVICES
A sperm bank or cryobank is a facility that collects and stores
human sperm mainly from sperm donors, primarily for the
purpose of achieving pregnancies through third party
reproduction, notably by artificial insemination. The first two
sperm banks were opened in Iowa City, Iowa, USA and Tokyo,
Japan in 1965.
Storage
The sperm is stored in small vials or straws of holding between
0.4 and 1.0 ml and cryogenically preserved in liquid nitrogen
tanks. There seems to be no limit on how long frozen sperm
can be stored, and a baby has been conceived in the UK using
sperm frozen for 21 years.Before freezing, sperm may be
prepared so that it can be used for intra-cervical insemination