Some men may choose to freeze sperm prior to treatment for cancer (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy). It is advisable to consider this as some treatments can significantly affect the production and quality of the sperm after recovery from treatment.

Many couples freeze excess embryos that have resulted from an IVF cycle. This allows an opportunity for the use of these embryos to establish a pregnancy without having to undergo the entire IVF ovarian stimulation process. These embryos are thawed and then placed in the uterus once the uterus has been appropriately prepared to receive the embryos. Not all embryos are able to survive the freezing and thawing process. It is considered that the better the quality the embryos when frozen, the better chance there is that they will be viable when thawed.

Presently, egg freezing is considered experimental because the process is harsh to eggs and has not led to acceptable pregnancy rates after thawing, fertilization and implantation. Pregnancy rates when using previously frozen eggs are approximately 2-4% per egg frozen under ideal situations. This is an area of active research.