Men who donate sperm must undergo rigorous medical evaluation or screening. This includes detailed family health history, blood tests and laboratory tests of semen.
Most sperm banks require that donors be at least 18 years old. Donors must also agree to abstain from sex for several hours before each donation session.
Age
Sperm donation is an important commitment, and sperm banks expect their donors to be committed to the process. Donors are typically asked to come in weekly or twice a week for six months to a year to donate sperm. They will also be asked to give blood, urine and semen samples. Donors are tested for infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis B and C, and they will be asked to complete a detailed medical history. Donors will also be required to provide family medical history for at least two generations.
In addition to this, most sperm banks require donors to abstain from sex for at least two days before the appointment, in order to ensure high sperm counts. Donors are often asked to abstain from cigarette or alcohol use as well. They will be expected to get plenty of rest and eat a healthy diet. Donors are usually filmed or photographed and required to answer questions about their personality, goals, interests, hobbies, drug use, travel (to rule out Zika exposure) and education. Donors may be known to the child conceived by their sperm or they may choose to remain anonymous.
Almost all sperm banks and fertility clinics will require proof of a bachelor’s degree, and many will accept only donors who have completed post-secondary education. Other eligibility criteria for donors may include a high sperm count, an exemplary medical history and good health.
Height
Men who wish to become sperm donors must pass a series of medical and psychological tests. In addition, they must agree to provide a semen sample, which will be tested for sperm count, morphology and motility. Men who have low sperm counts or no sperm count will not be accepted as donors. Additionally, sperm donors must also agree to submit to an infectious disease screening and provide detailed medical history.
Aside from the physical requirements, most sperm banks will require that potential donors have completed at least some form of post-secondary education. They may also ask about family health history, which is important for tracing genetic conditions and determining the likelihood of offspring developing specific diseases.
Donor sperm is not cheap. In fact, it can cost more than $500 per cycle, including the costs of storage and shipping. That is why many intended parents seek out fertility specialists and a trusted donor.
If you are interested in becoming a sperm donor, contact a fertility clinic for more information. The clinic will perform rigorous tests and offer counselling to both the donor and the intended parent(s). It is always safer to undergo fertility treatment at a licensed clinic, as they are required by law to ensure the safety of their patients. This includes carrying out rigorous tests on both the patients and donors and offering counselling to all parties involved in a same-sex treatment.
Ethnicity
For many intended parents, finding the right sperm donor for their family-building journey is important. A variety of factors can affect this, including ethnicity and race.
In the US, sperm donors must pass extensive medical and genetic screenings. This includes a physical exam, semen testing and a thorough review of personal and family health histories. Donors also provide blood, urine and semen samples and undergo psychological and personality evaluations. In addition, they must agree to be contacted by any child conceived using their sperm when the child reaches legal age.
Donors may also be asked to share photos and a detailed personal biography for the benefit of children conceived from their sperm. However, sperm and egg donation is not a means of financial gain. While some private sperm and egg donors seek remuneration, sperm donations provided through a fertility clinic are usually free of charge to the donor.
In addition to undergoing medical and genetic testing, sperm donors must adhere to strict dietary and behavioral guidelines. This includes abstaining from sex for two days before donating and ensuring that his sperm has acceptable motility and survival rates both at the time of donation and at the test-thaw a few days later.
Personality
Men who donate sperm are generally more mature, stable, and just plain more together than men their age who have never made a deposit in a plastic vial, researchers found in a study published this week in BJOG. Researchers surveyed 115 Swedish sperm donors and a control group to assess their temperament, character, and demographics.
For example, they found that sperm donors have higher levels of openness to experience. This personality trait describes imaginative, curious, and exploratory tendencies — in contrast to closed individuals, who are more traditional and often rely on routines and structures for their sense of stability and self-worth. The donors also scored higher than the control group on the personality trait of conscientiousness, which relates to an individual’s ability to be organized and plan ahead.
These traits make sperm donors more likely to stick with the program despite the time commitment, sex restrictions, and rigorous screening processes. In addition to extensive physical testing, sperm donors must answer dozens of questions about their medical history and those of their family members up through several generations. This helps sperm banks identify individuals who have diseases like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis, which could be passed down to their donation-born children. They also have to take a drug screen and a series of genetic tests.
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