UIC in the News

After news reports, sperm bank busy with military callers

April 30, 2003

by Carol Mattar

The beginning of the Iraq war was a busy time for the UIC Hospital sperm bank, with men from across the country calling for information about banking their sperm before being deployed.

They wanted to be sure they could still father children, should they come in contact with any chemical or biological agents.

Mary Coppolillo, coordinator of the sperm banking program, logged 63 calls about banking for military men, 30 of whom decided to bank their sperm. Several made more than one visit.

Many of the callers, Coppolillo said, were wives, fiancées or girlfriends.

“It’s not something the men really want to talk about,” she explained, “but these women are worried.”

Her first call, though, was from a man. His call gave Coppolillo the idea of waiving the first year’s $200 storage fee for men in the military.

Word got out through the media and the men telling others in their units. The sperm bank had to add Saturday hours to accommodate all the men before they were deployed.

Seven men who used the service were from out-of-state: two each from Wisconsin and Texas and one each from Colorado, North Carolina and Indiana.

The 23 from Illinois were from Chicago and other cities throughout the state.

Ten who either were too far from Chicago or didn’t have time to come to the facility before shipping out used the OverNiteMale™ service.

Developed several years ago by the sperm bank for men facing cancer treatment, OverNiteMale™ allows men to produce samples at home and FedEx them to UIC in a kit with a special preservative.

Below: Medical lab assistant Mathis Morrison works with cryotanks filled with liquid nitrogen, used to preserve sperm vials.

Photo: Troy Heinzeroth