Couple's joy at 'deep freeze' baby

Daniel White, now two, was conceived after four attempts at IVF

The parents of a boy conceived using sperm frozen for 21 years have spoken of events leading up to their son's birth, according to The Daily Mail.

Trevor and Joan White told the Mail how he decided to freeze his sperm when treatment for testicular cancer left him sterile at 17.

Twenty-one years later, Mrs White conceived through IVF and gave birth to a healthy boy.

She said Daniel, now two, was "just our little boy".

After everything we had gone through to have what we wanted at the end of it was so overwhelming Joan White Daniel's mother Q&A: Frozen sperm

Mr White became sterile at 17 as a result of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for testicular cancer.

He decided to preserve five vials of sperm in case he wanted a family in the future.

Each year he would ensure his sperm remained in storage.

He told the Daily Mail: "I used to get a little form every year asking if I wanted the storage to continue. I used to tick the box, send it back and get another one in 12 months."

Trevor later met Joan and they married in 1994 but it was not until a year later that they decided to try for a baby.

Dr Elizabeth Pease, a consultant in reproductive medicine at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, confirmed the defrosted sperm was still healthy.

An unsuccessful attempt was made at insemination and it was only after four IVF treatments that Mrs White conceived.

In 2002, Mrs White gave birth to Daniel, a healthy 8lb 2oz baby.

She said: "When they handed him to us, we just sat there stunned. After everything we had gone through to have what we wanted at the end of it was so overwhelming."

She added: "It's difficult to associate all the fuss with Daniel. We now know that as far as the medical world is concerned he's an achievement, but for us he's just our little boy. "