• What this is – collecting, freezing and storing sperm. This is the standard way of preserving fertility in males.
• When this is used – when you want to store sperm for the future – samples can be stored for up to 20 years. 
• How this works – the procedure is performed in hospital or in a sperm bank facility (also called an andrology unit). Samples are collected in a private room where you can masturbate or have a partner sexually stimulate you and then ejaculate into a jar. It’s recommended that you provide 2–3 samples – you may need to visit the clinic more than once to ensure an adequate amount of semen is collected. The sperm is then frozen until needed, and when you are ready to have a child, the frozen sperm is thawed and used to fertilise an egg using IVF.
• Other considerations – if you collect semen at home, you must keep the sample close to body temperature and get it to the sperm bank facility within an hour. If you want to collect semen during sex, you must use a special condom you can get from the sperm bank facility. If you are unable to ejaculate, there are medical ways to encourage ejaculation. If you are unable to produce a sample of semen, sperm may be collected using testicular sperm extraction. Sperm can also be collected from men with retrograde ejaculation.

You may feel nervous and embarrassed going to a sperm bank, or worry about achieving orgasm and ejaculating. The medical staff are used to these situations and you can also bring someone with you.

Legal limits on how long sperm can be stored are different in each state and territory – your fertility clinic can advise about time limits and the cost of storage.

• What this is – protecting the testicles from external beam radiation therapy with a shield.
• When this is used – if the testicles are close to where radiation beams are directed (but are not the target of the radiation), they can be protected from the radiation beams.
• How this works – protective lead coverings called shields are used.
• Other considerations – this technique does not guarantee that radiation will not affect the testicles, but it does provide some level of protection.

• What this is – a method of looking for sperm inside the testicular tissue. It is also called surgical sperm retrieval.
• When this is used – when you can’t ejaculate or when there is not enough sperm in the semen sample.
• How this works – under anaesthetic, a fine needle is inserted into the epididymis or testicle to find and extract sperm (testicular aspiration). If no sperm is found, your specialist may do an open biopsy to retrieve a larger tissue sample. The collected sperm is frozen and can later be used to fertilise eggs during IVF.
• Other considerations – rarely, no sperm is found in the testicular tissue.

You may be able to get your partner pregnant naturally after finishing cancer treatment. This will only be possible if your semen production returns to normal and you are making healthy, active sperm. As fertility declines with age, it will also depend on the age of you and your partner.

The pituitary gland produces hormones that tell the testicles to produce sperm. If cancer treatment has damaged the pituitary gland, you may be able to have medical treatment to trigger the production of sperm. This is called sperm induction.  

If treatment has permanently affected your ability to produce sperm and have erections, you will no longer be able to conceive naturally. Your medical team will do tests to assess your fertility and check your general health. Depending on the treatment you’ve had, they may advise you to wait six months to two years before trying to conceive. Discuss the timing and suitable contraception with your specialist.

Also called artificial insemination, this technique increases the chance that the sperm will fertilise an egg by placing the sperm directly into the uterus.

The sperm may be fresh or it may have been frozen before treatment. To be used for IUI, sperm samples must be of reasonable quality. The sample is washed and the faster-moving sperm are separated from the slower sperm.

Insemination is usually done in a fertility clinic. Once your partner is ovulating, the sperm are inserted into their uterus through the cervix using a small, soft tube (catheter). This takes only a few minutes and may cause some mild discomfort to your partner. You should know in a few weeks whether fertilisation took place.

IVF uses either sperm collected and frozen before treatment or fresh sperm to fertilise an egg outside of the body. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a specialised type of IVF in which a single, good-quality sperm is injected into an egg.