Big Step For Sperm Surgeons

Two years ago, a man died of an allergic reaction.

Today, his widow is carrying their child, thanks to a group of California doctors who successfully performed invitro fertilization using a dead man's sperm.

CBS 'This Morning' Co-Anchor Jane Robelot talked to Dr. Cappy Rothman, the head of the team at Century City Hospital, Los Angeles. He's been working toward this goal for 20 years.

An Interview With Dr. Cappy Rothman

The sperm was retrieved from the man 30 hours after his death, two years ago, and stored in a sperm bank. The widow, who is in her 20s, is one month pregnant. She has been asked to remain anonymous until she reaches the end of her third month. This is her second try at this procedure with Dr. Rothman.

According to Dr. Rothman, there is a 40 to 50 percent chance for a successful birth. As a woman's age has a lot to do with how successful the procedure will be, this mother's chances are quite high, considering she is only in her 20s.

Dr. Rothman has been working at this procedure since 1978. At that time, he had three options. The first two are too racy to mention. The third option, however, was to remove sperm from anatomy where it was stored.

Dr. Rothman says that he found that the easiest procedure to follow was to retrieve the sperm from the epidymis, where the sperm is stored.

However, in 1978, the technology was not available to use the sperm successfully. Since there are millions of sperms available, the goal was to use a technique which would enable him to use fewer and fewer sperm and inject it into the egg. Now, with the new advancements, he can bring it down to retrieving one single sperm, and inject it into the egg. The technique is called "intra cytoplasmic sperm injection."

Dr. Rothman says this is now becoming a field into itself. It is technically easy to retrieve the sperm, and inject it into the egg of the woman.

He has no ethical problems with this procedure. From his experience, he says, it only helped families and gave them a sense of hope during tremendous grief. It actually decreases the trauma of death. Subsequently, he does not see any reason for regulating this procedure.

Dr. Rothman practices enrology, which is the study of men, specializing in men's infertility, microsurgery, and sperm banking. He is also the medical director of California Cryo Bank, where tissue is being stored.