Twins for wife who kept testicle in coffee flask By Sally Pook

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A WOMAN who drove her husband's surgically-removed testicle 100 miles to a fertility clinic in a vacuum flask, so that sperm could be removed from it, has become pregnant with twins.

The woman's journey took place minutes after her husband underwent an operation to remove his remaining testicle after a diagnosis of testicular cancer. His other testicle had already been removed, in an operation called an orchidectomy, for the same form of cancer five years previously.

Fearing that the operation would leave them childless, the couple from Warwickshire, who do not wish to be identified, asked surgeons for help on the day the emergency operation went ahead. As there was no time to donate sperm before the operation, they were advised to take the testicle to a fertility clinic, where the sperm could be extracted and frozen.

Anna Kavanagh, director of Midland Fertility Services, in Aldridge, near Walsall, the clinic that eventually took the testicle, said: "A number of options were considered, including using a device used to transport women's eggs that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Finally, it was agreed the best alternative was a simple flask that you would carry your coffee in."

The main problem facing the couple, who are in their 20s, was the distance to the clinic, a journey of more than one-and-a-half hours. The testicular tissue needed to be kept at a constant temperature during transport, so it was placed in a saline solution heated to 37C. Ms Kavanagh said: "It is the first time we have done anything like this and it worked very well."

Three months later, fertilisation treatment was carried out and the woman is now eight weeks pregnant. Her husband is understood to be clear of cancer.

Ms Kavanagh said: "It was a sad tale, but thankfully there has been a happy ending. A scan has just shown everything is going great. And all thanks to a coffee flask."