A baby girl has been born using the sperm her father froze 17 years ago before battling against cancer. Emmanuel Iyoha told the Daily Mirror that he 'didn't want to bother saving sperm. I just wanted to concentrate on getting better', but a nurse had persuaded him to store his sperm before treatment. 'Now I'm so glad the nurses pushed me', he said.

Mr Iyoha underwent chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1989. At the time, Emmanuel was already father to a two-year old son and did not want another child, but the nurse at the Christie Cancer Hospital in Manchester informed Mr Iyoha of the potential use of his sperm if he happened to change his mind in the future. By freezing his sperm, Emmanuel was able to try for another child with his second wife, Zoe, through IVF. The couple are now said to be 'over the moon' by the birth of their daughter, Poppy Rose.

In May 2005, a big news story broke when scientists in the UK reported the birth of a healthy baby boy born to a father whose sperm was frozen for 21 years. The man had undergone treatment for testicular cancer at the age of 17, which had made him sterile. The researchers published his case study in the fertility journal Human Reproduction.

Reproduced from BioNews with permission, a web- and email-based source of news, information and comment on assisted reproduction and human genetics, published by Progress Educational Trust.