Health
October 10, 2008 02:08 PM
beingwell magazine Fall 2008
By: Leslie Plant
Attendees at the Newmarket Home Show in April got a surprise that had many doing a double-take: Tucked in among the exhibitors offering information on home renovations, lawn care and composting was a booth by Northern Reproductive Therapies, which was there to “sow some seeds” for its sperm bank and the other fertility treatment services it offers.
“We had really great, positive responses from a lot of people who were just walking by. I think the first response was ‘Oh!’ and then the second response was ‘Oh, that’s good,’” says Heather Brooks, a registered nurse with 15 years experience in reproductive medicine, and the clinic’s director.
The goal, she says, was to get people talking about the issue of infertility, which according to research affects about 20 per cent of Canadian couples. “It’s such a personal part of somebody’s life, so it’s very difficult for people to open up.”
Ms Brooks and her staff also held an open house during Canadian Infertility Awareness Week in May to inform more area residents about the clinic. Northern Reproductive Therapies has operated from its location on Prospect Street in Newmarket since spring 2007, assuming the care for patients of the York Region Fertility Centre, which was closing after 13 years. Since then, it has expanded its services and support programs to include in-vitro fertilization consultation, training, counselling and cycle monitoring,
a Yoga for Fertility course, nutritional counselling, acupuncture and seminars on stress relief.
The clinic has also, since November 2007, offered semen preservation services, providing an opportunity for males undergoing medical or surgical procedures that could affect future sperm production to cryogenically store semen before treatment.
“The most prevalent cancer in men age 15 to 27 is testicular cancer,” Ms Brooks says. “A number of those men or adolescent guys have not even thought about starting a family. Eventually a lot of them will, but if they are undergoing chemo or radiation and they don’t bank their semen chances are they won’t have that opportunity.”
The risk of genetic damage to sperm following chemotherapy or radiation treatments varies. “Men produce new sperm cells every 72 days. So it takes that three-month period for a sperm cell to become a fully grown sperm with a full tail and to become motile. The chemo and the radiation can affect the DNA so you still may have the motility come back, or the count, but the DNA structure of the sperm won’t allow for pregnancy because it’s been transmuted, or changed.”
Ms Brooks says communicating to oncologists, urologists and family physicians about the clinic’s sperm banking facilities is key, as patients need a physician referral. Upon a cancer diagnosis, treatment is the number one priority but, Ms Brooks points out, arranging to bank a semen sample can be a relatively quick exercise. “Before they send someone off (for treatment), they could communicate with that patient about the potential for preserving their future fertility.” Arranging for routine blood work to screen for infectious diseases, counselling and sample collection can all be accomplished within a day or two. The clinic, where all blood work, sample collection, processing and storing is done, is within walking distance of Southlake Regional Health Centre.
It’s not just oncology patients who can benefit from banking semen, says Ms Brooks. Some professions or high-risk occupations such as military service can involve exposure to harmful chemicals or toxins that may affect sperm; men who travel frequently and may be absent when their partner is undergoing fertility treatments can also store semen so it’s available when needed; and men considering voluntary sterilization may want to bank semen as insurance, should they later regret the decision and learn that a vasectomy reversal is not viable or unsuccessful.
Costs for storing samples include $175 for banking and the first year of storage and about $150 per year for storage after that. OHIP does not cover these costs, but does pay for the required blood screening.
Northern Reproductive Therapies, which currently has about 15 patients using its sperm banking service, labels each sample with an identifying numeric code, submerses it in liquid nitrogen-filled tanks and stores it on site. Security monitoring is provided around the clock.
For more on Northern Reproductive Therapies, visit www.northernfertility.ca or call 905-967-0852, or 1-866-785-4709.