Blog written by Laboratory Staff JM

One of my ‘sometimes’ tasks as an employee of the Cryobank is keeping up with the social media side of things. It’s not my primary task, but one of those tasks that I take on here and there, and one of the most fulfilling tasks!

I look forward to the interaction with our “fans” or followers. Sometimes I’m answering questions about donors or products, like Lifetime Photos. Sometimes I’m posting pregnancy report info, which is always exciting! Sometimes, I’m interacting on a thread about random things, like what everyone’s favorite Holiday cookie is.

It’s great to interact with those who are trying to conceive, especially when folks post photos of their babies/children/pets! Our followers have great insight, and it’s a task that I find refreshing!

I hope that our followers continue to ask great questions, give useful feedback, and keep posting those baby photos!!! Visit us on Facebook.

Blog written by CLI Director Stephen H. Pool, Ph.D.

Now that you understand the terms from the last post, let me explain how you use this information to understand the CLI Specimen Quality Statement found on web site and in each sample shipment. Our specimen quality statement states that each IUI or ICI ready vial will contain 20 million TMC/ml (10 million TMC/vial) and our IVF units will contain 5 million TMC/vial. This is the post-thaw analysis. Therefore, each vial contains significantly more cells than 10 million. The 10 million TMC describes only the number of motile cells in the vial. In addition to the motile cells in the vial there is the cryoprotectant solution, non-motile sperm cells, and debris.

Your physician’s office will do a post-thaw evaluation once the sample is thawed and they may also further prep the sample if needed for your procedure. Keep in mind, semen is not a homogeneous mixture (i.e. sperm cells are not evenly distributed in the vial) and because of this, sample concentrations may vary from lab to lab. In addition, there can be settling during freezing so the sample needs to be mixed will before the analysis is performed.

The sample may also need to be washed following thawing (procedure dependent), and the final concentration may go down 10 to 30%. Any procedure that involves altering the sample will affect the survival of the cells which will affect percent motility and final TMC. Keep this in mind and be prepared to ask your physician questions about any post-thaw processing they may have performed or you may want to contact the sperm bank if your sample(s) do not meet your expectations or the specimen quality statement.

Good luck and I hope that you now have a better understanding of “what is in my vial of donor semen.”

Blog written by CLI Director Stephen H. Pool, Ph.D.

I sometimes get questions related to semen and semen quality standards. Many sperm banks publish quality standards and although similar in some aspects, they are different in other areas. How do I understand what is in my vial of donor semen?

First, one needs to understand the terms used to describe a semen sample purchased from a sperm bank. Then, when reading the semen quality standard you should have a better understanding of what you have purchased. Here are some common terms used when referring to semen samples purchased from Cryogenic Laboratories, Inc.

Semen – Semen is a mixture of fluids from the male accessory glands (prostate, seminal vesicles) sperm cells from the testes and other cellular debris (leukocytes, immature sperm cells, etc.). Frozen semen is packaged in straws or vials. Most straws contain 0.5 ml of semen and vials often contain 0.5 ml or 1 ml of semen.

Concentration – Concentration is the number of sperm per unit of volume. Sperm concentration is typically reported in millions per milliliter (ml). Example: 50 million/ml.

Cryoprotectant – The cryoprotectant is a substance (usually glycerol) that is added to the semen to help preserve/protect the sperm cells during the freezing process. The cryoprotectant is usually mixed in a media. The media can be an egg based buffer or a non-egg based buffer and is called the cryoprotectant solution or extender. By adding a cryoprotectant solution to the raw semen, the sperm cells are protected from dying during the freezing and thawing cycles. The cryoprotectant solution does not guarantee 100% survival however the number of sperm surviving the freeze-thaw cycle will be higher if a cryoprotectant is used than if it is not.

Percent (%) Motility – Percent Motility is the number of sperm cells that are moving in a semen sample divided by the total number of sperm cells (moving and nonmoving) in a specific volume (typically 1 ml).

Total motile cells (TMC) – TMC is a calculation of the Total number of Motile Cells moving in a specific volume (0.5 ml, 1 ml for example). You need three pieces of information to calculate the TMC. The concentration of sperm, the percent motility and the volume. The calculation is: Concentration (millions/ml) X % motility X volume (ml) = TMC. Example: 70 million X 35% X 0.5 ml = 12.25 TMC/0.5 ml.

Pre-freeze motility – % of sperm cells that are moving prior to freezing.

Post-thaw motility – % of sperm cells that are moving following thawing.

ICI ready or Unwashed semen – Unwashed semen is a semen sample that has not had the seminal plasma (liquid portion) of the raw semen sample removed prior to adding the cryoprotectant solution. Therefore, an unwashed sample contains all the fluids in the original sample plus the cryoprotectant solution. Unwashed semen is typically used for intracervical inseminations (ICI) but can be washed following thawing and used for intrauterine inseminations (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) or IVF/ICSI.

IUI ready or Washed semen – Washed semen is a sample that has had the seminal plasma (liquid portion) of the raw semen sample removed and replaced with a sperm compatible media plus the cryoprotectant solution prior to freezing. Washed semen is typically used for intrauterine inseminations (IUI) and does not need additional prep prior to insemination. IUI samples can also be used for ICI without further prep. IUI samples can be washed post-thaw and used for IVF or IVF/ICSI.

IVF unit – IVF units are unwashed samples that contain half the TMC of an ICI or unwashed semen sample.