Is Banked Sperm Really the Same as Hair and Toenail Clippings?

The contents of a freezer that broke down at a Britain hospital in 2003 wasn't just holding yesterday's lunch. It was keeping on ice the only hope six men would ever have of one day fathering children. Now five of the cancer patients (one has since died) are locked in a battle for damages that's now in front of the country's highest court.

The men were each told that treatment for their condition may result in the loss of their fertility – sending them scurrying to the hospital to have samples of their sperm frozen to preserve their chances of becoming a dad. In June 2003, the longterm storage unit at the Southmead
Hospital failed, and the thawed sperm had to be thrown away. The North Bristol National Health System Trust, which manages the hospital, admitted it was at fault, but the men have so far been told that they are not eligible for any damages.

A county court judge earlier this year compared the sperm samples to hair and toenail clippings, stating the men had no right to claim personal injury once the sperm was removed from their body. Their lawyers are now fighting to have that overturned in front of the country's two seniormost judges. 

Can anyone really compare sperm saved in a medical institution to toenails clipped over a garbage can? There's no guarantee that the sperm could successfully be used to create a viable embryo, but these men put specifically entrusted their sperm to a hospital to keep it for safekeeping. They did so with the specific intention of protecting their chances of one day becoming a father, something these men may never know (at least not in the biological sense). 

People who dream of one day having children, only to learn infertility problems stand in the way, often mourn as though they've felt a physical loss. To tell them that they should look at their struggles as nothing more than losing one's hair would be both cruel and condescending. Can't the same be said for these men?

Image: eHow