Scottish man has twins through IVF using 27-year-old sperm – iNews

A Scottish man has earned a world record after becoming the father of twins through IVF using sperm that he froze almost 27 years ago.

The man, who lives in Glasgow but has requested anonymity, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 21 and was advised to freeze his sperm in case the chemotherapy he needed left him infertile.

When we finally saw on a scan we were having twins I was in shock

World record holder

After surviving cancer, his sperm remained frozen for 26 years and 243 days until he and his partner decided to use it to have children through IVF in 2010.

His partner became pregnant with twins at the age of 37 and the boy and girl were born the following year, landing him a Guinness World Record for the oldest sperm ever successfully used in IVF.

Although he has known about the record for years, the man did not have it verified because he did not want to be named in public. However, he has now had it accepted on the basis of anonymity.

Read more: Male fertility alert after sperm count dives by more than half

The man said he hoped his record would show other cancer patients that they can still have children years after finishing their treatment.

People going through chemotherapy should keep hope, he added. When we finally saw on a scan we were having twins I was in shock.

I kept looking for a third heartbeat, thinking we might even be having triplets.

The mans sperm was stored at an NHS lab in Edinburgh before his chemotherapy, before being transferred to the private GCRM fertility clinic in Glasgow for use in the couples IVF.

The clinics medical director Dr Marco Gaudoin said the mans case showed that sperm could theoretically be stored indefinitely and still be used to father children.

According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority regulator, the standard storage period for sperm is normally ten years. In some circumstances it can be kept for up to 55 years.

Women are also able to freeze their eggs while they are young for use in later IVF treatment, while couples hoping to conceive are also able to freeze fertilised embryos before they are implanted in the womb.

Last week it emerged that two men are set to become the first same-sex couple in Scotland to have twins through IVF, after using a donor egg and a surrogate mother.

Ryan Walker and Chris Watson, from Falkirk, are expecting a boy and a girl in the next few weeks. The pregnancy came against the odds.

Like the man from Glasgow, Mr Walker had to have his sperm frozen after being diagnosed with cancer five years ago.

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Scottish man has twins through IVF using 27-year-old sperm - iNews