Semen storage

[ksmith123]

I'm trying to conceive with the help of a friend who is donating sperm. He lives about 400 miles away, so I've been flying down based on when the ovulation tests I'm using are positive. However, the timing doesn't always work due to our work schedules and such, and even when it does, we usually only get to try once. I read online about how people treat semen from animals at home and ship it chilled all over the country for AI done by breeders. The "semen extender" is just some sugars and antibiotics. I was wondering if anyone has ever used this? It's obviously not FDA approved for humans, but since it's used for a bunch of different mammals, it seems logical it would keep human sperm alive as well. It says it can keep sperm for 2-3 days, possibly even more. This way my donor could mail his sample to me.

 

[Hickory]

I'm trying to conceive with the help of a friend who is donating sperm. He lives about 400 miles away, so I've been flying down based on when the ovulation tests I'm using are positive. However, the timing doesn't always work due to our work schedules and such, and even when it does, we usually only get to try once. I read online about how people treat semen from animals at home and ship it chilled all over the country for AI done by breeders. The "semen extender" is just some sugars and antibiotics. I was wondering if anyone has ever used this? It's obviously not FDA approved for humans, but since it's used for a bunch of different mammals, it seems logical it would keep human sperm alive as well. It says it can keep sperm for 2-3 days, possibly even more. This way my donor could mail his sample to me.

I've worked at various horse breeding farms and the veterinarians are experts on extending semen. The needs vary from horse to horse - some do better with different extenders, some need the centrifuge, etc.

In the horse world, the stallion is collected and semen is analyzed, cooled and "extended" before being shipped overnight via Fedex in a special cooled container. We never allow it to go more than overnight. Vets on the receiving end have to be very careful to warm it properly, check motility etc, and then inseminate in the proper amount of time.

It couldn't hurt to try! I would be most concerned about the temperature in shipment killing the swimmers without cooling it - and the cooling/warming processes are pretty sensitive on each end. Good luck! I'll be following to see what you learn, as this all fascinates me!