New Hope for Fatherhood for Boys!
I sperm banked - I’m proud of it, it was an interesting day out! Slightly Bizarre but maybe its just my warped sense of humour! However I wouldn’t have fancied being a young child and having to go through that experience - let’s face it, it would take some explaining!
Which is why a fantastic new proposal from the hildren’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is so great.The proposal (if it receives ethical approval) will see boys under the age of 12 storing testicular tissue to allow them to have children later in life.
“We are currently writing a protocol that will hopefully allow us to begin testicular cryopreservation for prepubertal males at risk of infertility because of their cancer therapy,” said Dr Jill Ginsberg, one of the team at the Children’s Hospital.
“Our hope is to freeze some of this tissue for the patient’s future and then to give some of the tissue to Dr Brinster for further research.”
“We are excited because before this opportunity, prepubertal boys had no options,” said Dr Ginsberg, who is doing the work with Dr Thomas Kolon.
But she stressed it depends on Prof Brinster refining ways to grow sperm. “This is purely experimental and we cannot promise that their infertility will be prevented. We hope, however, to further the science.” Dr Ginsberg said.
We’ll watch this research with interest!