Donor Sperm

The Sperm Donation Process

A potential sperm donor must first go through certain tests and screenings to ensure their sperm is healthy and free from any sexually transmitted diseases. Once cleared, the donor will provide their sperm sample, usually through masturbation in the clinic. The sperm is then properly frozen, stored, and thawed when ready for use. The intended carrier can become pregnant with donor sperm through intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF). The sperm donor relinquishes all rights to any children born as a result of their donation.

Using a Known Sperm Donor

A known sperm donor is a donor whose identity is known to you, such as a friend, acquaintance, or someone you met for the express purpose of sperm donation. There are several reasons why families choose to work with known sperm donors, including:

• Some families want the option of having a donor who is committing to some level of involvement in their lives (or the lives of their children). This option is only available if you use a known donor.
• Should any questions about genetic diversity, allergies, developmental milestones, etc. come up, some families like the option of asking their donor for more information about those medical and/or developmental topics.
• Some couples choose to have a relative donate sperm for their pregnancy, such as the brother of the partner who is not carrying the pregnancy. This allows for a genetic connection between the non-carrying partner and the pregnancy.
• When working with a known donor, it is unlikely that they will have contributed to more than a handful of pregnancies throughout their lives, which is considered a positive by families who are concerned about the number of genetic “siblings” generated by one donor.

That being said, there are also some drawbacks to using a known donor, including: 

• The legal connection between a known donor and a pregnancy can be complicated, depending on where you live. In some cases, known donors will have to go to court (perhaps even multiple times) to sever their legal connection to the pregnancy and ensuing baby. These court dates can be expensive.
• There are times when donors have a change of heart, either about donating or about the type of relationship they would like to have with the pregnancy and ensuing baby. This can make for complicated, even legally messy situations.
• In some cases, the relatives of the known donor may attempt to establish social or even legal connections to the pregnancy and/or ensuing baby.

If using a known sperm donor is part of your family-building journey, our third-party reproduction team will assist in obtaining the required screening and testing established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

Using an Unknown Sperm Donor

Unknown sperm donors are donors who went through an intermediary sperm bank, and whose identity is intended to be unknown to you. You may be familiar with the phrase “anonymous donor,” but because of readily available genetic testing, the concept of anyone being truly “anonymous” is no longer an option. There are several reasons why families choose to work with unknown sperm donors, including:

• Some families want the option of having a donor who has committed to no level of involvement in their lives (or the lives of their children). This guarantee is only available if you use an unknown donor.
• If working with a cryobank, extensive testing is done on every donor with an emphasis on sperm quality/quantity, background examination of mental health conditions, and three generations of medical histories are examined for each donor.
• If working with a cryobank, donors have already severed legal ties with their samples, so there is no concern about legal challenges by donors.

However, there are also some drawbacks to working with an unknown donor, including: 

• There are limited options for communicating with donors about medical questions or concerns. Cryobanks may be able to act as an intermediary, but the donor will be able to decide whether they choose to communicate and their anonymity will be prioritized throughout the process.
• There are global limits placed on how many family units may be formed using any single donor’s sperm, and some cryobanks may choose to further limit the number of families created by their donors. However, it may still be possible that 15-25 families across the world have used the same donor you did, which means that your child/ren may have 60+ genetic “siblings.” While some families like having a connection to other families who used their donor, others don’t like the idea of having so many genetic relatives.
• Some donor-conceived children believe that every person has the right to know the person who contributed the sperm that created them, and that type of relationship isn’t possible with an unknown donor.

Our third-party reproduction team has extensive experience working with many top sperm banks throughout the United States and abroad. Sperm banks offer pre-screened frozen specimens which can be purchased from these banks and shipped to our state-of-the-art inhouse laboratory. We are able to store the sperm until the patient is ready to use.