War won't stop their family planning

Some servicemen will leave behind a chance for fertility treatments to continue while they are overseas.

By BRADY DENNIS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 11, 2003

TAMPA -- The call to war means leaving things behind -- home, family, friends.

And, in some cases, sperm.

A Tampa doctor says several local servicemen have been having their sperm frozen so their wives can continue with fertility treatments while they are half a world away fighting terrorism.

Timothy Yeko, a doctor with the Reproductive Medicine Group in Hyde Park, said at least three couples have begun the process in recent weeks.

"I would have been hard-pressed to connect the Middle Eastern war and infertility in a single sentence before this," Yeko said. Yeko said most fertility programs urge couples to plan three to six months ahead. But servicemen at MacDill Air Force Base could be waking up in a foreign country in three to six months.

One local woman, whose husband works in Central Command at MacDill, said his willingness to leave behind his sperm could determine whether they are able to have a second child.

In addition to the three couples facing goodbyes, another couple contacted Yeko this week. The man is stationed at MacDill. His wife is in North Carolina.

Instead of going to North Carolina for fertility treatments, the man made a deposit at Yeko's office. Yeko sent the sperm, frozen in a canister of liquid nitrogen at -300 degrees, to the woman.

Yeko said he hopes this new "twist" on military life turns out well, even if a soldier gets a call that his wife is pregnant several months after he last saw her.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright