# Does freezing sperm kill HIV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-freezing-sperm-kill-hiv/300560 "2005-04-22T05:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Purple\_Brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Purple\_Brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purple_Brain)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-freezing-sperm-kill-hiv/300560/1 "2005-04-22T05:35:43Z")
Does freezing sperm kill HIV? ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-freezing-sperm-kill-hiv/300560/2 "2005-04-22T08:22:28Z")
> [@Purple Brain](#): > > Does freezing sperm kill HIV? probably not f blood (cells or Plasma) is frozen in liquid nitrogen, HIV can last indefinitely. Once thawed it will be infectious. In the short term, HIV requires living cells to survive and propogate. Infected cells or plasma can be removed from people and placed in a test tube with some nutrients to support cell growth. HIV will grow in the test tube for weeks as long as fresh uninfected cells and more nutrients are added. Finally, HIV can survive for only a short while in blood spills (minutes to hours). This all depends on the temperature and the volume of blood or liquid and the amount of HIV present in the liquid. from [http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Labs/Archive/Science/Q6553.html](http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Labs/Archive/Science/Q6553.html) ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-freezing-sperm-kill-hiv/300560/3 "2005-04-22T15:27:59Z")
Even if it did, what would be the purpose? Is this a “I can’t donate to sperm banks and I’m mad” issue? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-freezing-sperm-kill-hiv/300560/4 "2005-04-22T15:36:02Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > Even if it did, what would be the purpose? Is this a “I can’t donate to sperm banks and I’m mad” issue? 😕 Just a WAG but I guess the point would be that if a guy had HIV he could father a child with his significant other through the use of “treated sperm” and IVF without fear of infecting the woman or passing the infection onto the child. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-freezing-sperm-kill-hiv/300560/5 "2005-04-22T17:08:45Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > Just a WAG but I guess the point would be that if a guy had HIV he could father a child with his significant other through the use of “treated sperm” and IVF without fear of infecting the woman or passing the infection onto the child. Wouldn’t a test tube baby be free of HIV? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-freezing-sperm-kill-hiv/300560/6 "2005-04-22T17:23:26Z")
Not if you put HIV in the test tube.