His dad’s sperm was stored for 26 years before baby Noah was conceived. Not all men have the same chance

Angus Cave’s sperm was stored for 26 years before his son Noah was conceived using it. But sperm cryostorage is not universally available around the country, sparking calls for change.

Angus Cave and wife Rebecca Schulz with 16-month-old son Noah, who was conceived via IVF using a sperm sample taken and put into cryostorage in 1996. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

There was nothing fragile about baby Noah Cave when he was born into the arms of his father Angus in a Brisbane hospital.

Weighing 4.2kg with the flushed skin of a healthy newborn, it seemed impossible to believe that this baby’s genetic origins spanned 26 years, most of that time inside a storage vat full of liquid nitrogen vapours.

Baby Noah was conceived from a sperm sample that his father stored in 1996 as a 15-year-old just before he began cancer treatment, which subsequently destroyed his fertility. The birth marks the longest successful sperm cryostorage ever recorded in the scientific literature that has resulted in the birth of a baby.

“At the time I hadn’t given any thought to having kids,” said Mr Cave, now 41. “Why would you at that age? But I just thought, if there’s a chance my fertility won’t come back, absolutely I’d store the sperm.”

Mr Cave’s sperm was stored inside a freezing solution inside a special straw in a vat in the laboratory of the Andrology Department at Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney, the oldest public facility of its kind in the country which has been operating since 1978, its former location the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Sperm cryostorage vats at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital

Such a long period of storage clearly had no effect on the viability of the sperm – Mr Cave’s wife Rebecca was able to conceive Noah on their first round attempt at IVF.

“Sperm can be stored more or less indefinitely,” said David Handelsman, head of the andrology department at the Sydney Local Health District.

“It’s a form of fertility insurance which is quite low cost. And it’s a very effective long-term solution.”

Upon Noah’s birth in February last year, Professor Handelsman reported the case publicly in a scientific journal, noting Noah’s birth “reinforces the likelihood that there is effectively no time limit to the duration of successful sperm cryostorage”.

But he estimates that less than half the target population of men with newly diagnosed cancers in reproductive age group are undertaking sperm cryostorage in Australia, despite the practice being universally recommended in comprehensive cancer management guidelines.

That largely has to do with a critical lack of laboratories such as the one at Concord. In many states, the only option for men seeking to store sperm is via private IVF clinics, where the cost ranges from $250 to $500 for six months of storage. Regional patients have huge difficulty accessing facilities. Sometimes men are put under pressure to begin chemotherapy or radiation therapy immediately instead of waiting to organise sperm samples. Or sometimes considerations as to their future fertility is not given a high priority at all.

Angus Cave as a 15 year old when he was diagnosed with cancer

“There’s no doubt that male fertility is generally regarded as not something to really be concerned about,” Prof Handelsman said. “Sometimes we see men who have never been given the opportunity to store sperm, and have to use donor sperm or adoption if they later want to have children.

“And it’s really a tragedy when that happens. We see what the opportunity missed was, and how sad that is.”

Children’s Hospital at Westmead paediatric oncologist Luciano Dalla Pozza, who treated Mr Cave as a teenager and ensured he had the opportunity to preserve his fertility, said he was thrilled by Noah’s birth. “I”m personally absolutely delighted that this has happened,” says Professor Dalla Pozza, Director of the Cancer Centre for Children. “I would also like to see equity across the state and nationally in terms of sperm storage.”

Mr Cave is using his experience to urge other men and doctors to put male fertility top of mind when planning cancer treatment: “I absolutely think it should be available to everyone. It’s such a simple and easy process. It should be standard, even if you think you’re not going to have kids in the future. Things can change, and later you may regret that decision.

Angus Cave with 16 month old son Noah and mum Rebecca Schulz, at a park near their home in Mount Gravatt, Brisbane. pic Lyndon Mechielsen

“From my point of view, every day I wake up and look at Noah and I just have this real feeling of happiness. I’ll often think back to the fact that I stored the sperm all those years ago that allowed me to have Noah, and despite everything that happened it’s just such a wonderful feeling, it really is.”