Anaya Bangar Reveals She Had Sperm Frozen Before Gender Transition—Here’s How It Works

Anaya Bangar has opened up on the prospects of motherhood after gender transition. Speaking with a fellow contestant on the reality television show Rise and Fall, Anaya—the daughter of former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar, who underwent hormonal surgery—revealed that she had two options to embrace motherhood: either to adopt or go for sperm freezing before the hormonal treatment. “I have two options: I can either adopt or go for sperm freezing before the hormone treatment. I can become a mother, but through surrogacy. I had my sperm frozen before my transition. That is why I will become a surrogate mother. I cannot conceive,” she said. Anaya said she got her sperm frozen before starting hormone therapy to ensure she could still hold on to her dream

of experiencing parenthood, even if through surrogacy.

What is sperm freezing?

Freezing sperm, also known as cryopreservation, is the banking of sperm, which involves the long-term storage of a man's sperm cells for future use in assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilisation, or IVF. According to experts, sperm contain semen – the creamy fluid emitted from the male reproductive tract during ejaculation – with a single ejaculation having the potential to carry up to 500 million sperm. Upon deposition into the vagina, millions of sperm embark on a journey through the cervix. If they happen upon an egg, fertilisation may ensue, potentially resulting in pregnancy.

How does sperm freezing happen?

The process of sperm freezing starts with collecting, freezing, and subsequently storing sperm for a specified duration. Doctors say this method is mostly selected by those in high-risk occupations or undergoing treatments like chemotherapy for cancer, as it ensures the possibility of starting a family and having children in the future. The sperm is preserved at extremely low temperatures, typically at -196 degrees Celsius, until the time of retrieval for use. When a person wants to embark on parenthood, the cryopreserved sperm is thawed and introduced into the female reproductive tract. This can be accomplished through two methods:

• Intrauterine insemination, or IUI
• In vitro fertilization, or IVF

Who should go for sperm freezing?

You can go for sperm freezing if you:

• Are at risk of infertility due to older ages
• Are planning to have a vasectomy
• Are considering specific medical interventions like chemotherapy, which can affect fertility potential in the future
• Are undergoing surgeries like prostate cancer surgery.
• Work in life-endangering occupations like the military
• Are considering IVF
• Are considering a gender change and taking hormonal therapy

How does sperm collection happen?

According to Johns Hopkins, the process of sperm freezing involves several steps, in which you may start with undergoing an infectious disease screening to make sure there are no sexually transmitted diseases, followed by a blood test. Thereafter, you may need to provide a semen sample, and masturbation at a fertility clinic is the most common way to provide the sample. However, those with infertility issues may also need to undergo surgery to extract sperm. Once the semen is in the lab, andrologists (specialists in sperm and male fertility) analyse and prepare it for storage. They separate the sperm from the seminal fluid or testicular tissue and look at a small portion of the sample under a microscope. Andrologists would then evaluate the sperm’s concentration, shape, and movement and make sure it is healthy enough to freeze. After that, the sperm is placed into a special freezing solution in small vials, which go into storage freezers that contain liquid nitrogen.