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Last year I went to the cryogenic sperm bank and I got a few ampules of my sperm frozen. I did this for the reason that if I die anytime in the near future, and since I do not currently have offsprings/children/cubs, so if I die, my parents or girlfriend can use my frozen sperm to make my child.

I basically feel a little bit safer now because even if I die, I still have that small chance of still having kids in the future because my sperm is still alive.

Anyway, it costs about $40 a month to store it. I can buy one year of storage for about $360 so it saves some money if I buy a whole year (or more years, it would cost even less).

I am wondering if I am throwing my money away, and is this even worth the money?

Does frozen sperm go "stale" over time (like soda) and what does this mean for my case?

Any advice/recommendations appreciated.

I am wondering if I should just cancel the service, or pay for a year to get the discount.

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    Perhaps the first question should be: is it best to have children posthumously. There are some upsides. There are also a number of downsides, for example: a child with no father, pressure on the GF to impregnate herself when you're dead and raise your children without your help, tying your GF to a relationship that passed when you did, etc.
    – dave
    Sep 10, 2014 at 0:11
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    I must reiterate @dave's question: in whose best interest is it to continue your line? Surely it's not in your child's, who will grow up fatherless. My advice: save your money for life insurance and child care for the child you do have when you reach that point. And yes, the viability of sperm decreases over the years, as does the incidence of genetic defects. The sperm your loved ones might use to continue your line might result in a baby who needs significantly more care and incur more financial hardships than one conceived naturally.
    – anongoodnurse
    Sep 10, 2014 at 2:30
  • Well I was asking with the fact of it being fatherless aside. I am doing it in case I die by accident, and not because I plan to have a child posthumously (I don't plan to do that.) Your commends on genetic defects helped.
    – Skills
    Sep 10, 2014 at 2:59
  • Have you looked into the legal issues in your jurisdiction? They may be complex. bionews.org.uk/page_95589
    – Paul Johnson
    Oct 14, 2018 at 11:42

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Personally I would cancel it, but I am super cheap :)

I agree with @anongoodnurse here, put that money into life insurance instead (or invest it for retirement).

The question of sperm "going stale" seems like it is more appropriate to ask the sperm bank, that is sort of their thing.

Personally I would not keep my sperm around so my wife could have a child after I die; however, having this sperm "backup" may be helpful if you have an accident that causes trauma to your body that does not kill you but would otherwise prevent you from having children. Having this in storage might prove very valuable to you in a situation like that.

I guess there may be some medical condition or disease that would also make your plan make sense. Though I would think with most medical conditions of this sort you would have a little bit of warning and could go store some before it is too late. Specifically I am thinking if you get testicular cancer and the treatment would prevent you from having kids in the future, you usually have time to store sperm before treatment so there is no need to store ahead of even the diagnosis like you are doing.

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I will start with a question. What do we have money for? What is the purpose of money?

As I see it, spending money to feel safer is as good goal as any other. So by saying "I basically feel a little bit safer now" you actually answered your own question: yes, it's worth the money.

$40 a month doesn't sound like deal breaker, and unless you are really short in money, I think that spending it on such thing is a good reason, kind of mental insurance.

And the good thing is, that when you will have your own children you can cancel the subscription. So assuming you plan to have kids in 5 years, buy 5 years storage in advance. If possible, refresh the stored sperm once a year or so, just to be safe. :)

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  • This is a good answer, not sure why it was down voted, it's answer the question, without adding in "politics" of setting up a single parent situation. If it's that important to the OP then what harm is there?
    – coteyr
    Jul 25, 2017 at 16:00
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That sort of thing is mostly useful for people in highly dangerous industries that involve radiation exposure, or other serious injuries that are nonfatal but prevent you from fathering children. So, if you're a tech at a nuclear power plant, I suggest you look into this.

Similarly, if you have cancer in an area near your testes, and require radiation therapy, this would be a good solution that allowed you to safely father children post-therapy.

However, if you're simply keeping it there in case of a fatal accident, I don't imagine this is a good idea. Unless you're in a very few industries, the odds of a nonfatal accident leaving you able to not have children is very low, and those accidents would mostly leave you as highly dependent on your spouse - not a good idea to bring a child into that environment. Save your money and put it into something useful - life insurance like others stated, or a university fund.

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