How to go about selecting donor sperm

23 August 2024

Millie Kanani

How to go about selecting donor sperm

During your initial consultation, you may discuss the option of using donor sperm for treatment. Donor sperm is used in a variety of cases, such as for single women, same-sex couples, and to improve treatment success rates for heterosexual couples. In this article, we hope to answer some of the frequently asked questions relating to fertility treatment with donor sperm.

How to select donor sperm

The Evewell works closely alongside a diverse range of sperm banks within the UK, EU and the US:

• The London Sperm Bank (UK)
• The European Sperm Bank (EU)
• Cryos (EU)
• California Cryobank (US)
• Xytex (US)
• Semovo (UK)
• Fairfax (US)

When visiting the websites for the above, you will see that you can filter donors by various characteristics – it is entirely your choice how you filter and select, but we are always more than happy to answer any questions during this process.

It is worth noting that donor sperm from outside the UK must comply with the HFEA regulatory body, so each bank will specify which donors are suitable for treatment within the UK or will offer a selection of donors that fall under this category.

Donor sperm with carrier mutations

It is mandatory under the licensing of the HFEA regulatory body to ensure the safety of the donor sperm through screenings – these often include Chlamydia, Syphilis, Hepatitis, Gonorrhoea, HIV, and some genetic disorders. If the relevant donor is a carrier for any of these, you will find it flagged on the sperm bank website.

If you would like to proceed with a donor who has a carrier mutation, our Embryology Transport Team will refer you to our genetics counsellor, where you can discuss the donor’s carrier status and help you work through the options.

One of the options would be to carry out additional tests, just to check that you are not a carrier for the same mutation (our Embryology Transport Team would be able to discuss any impacts this may have on time frame or costings).

How much donor sperm to buy

The amount of donor sperm required depends on your chosen treatment:

• For IUI, you’ll need one vial of sperm per cycle.
• For IVF, sperm from a single vial can fertilise multiple eggs in the lab.

If you’re planning for multiple children or future cycles, you may want to purchase extra vials from the same donor to maintain genetic consistency between siblings.

We would always recommend you choose samples with a minimum of 20 million motile sperm per sample. This is often referred to as ‘MOT20’, so you may purchase any sample MOT20 or above. Samples may also be referred to as washed (or IUI) or unwashed (or ICI) samples, and either category is suitable. We always suggest purchasing more than one sample as a backup or for subsequent cycles.

The type, quality and sample to order depend on the treatment you are planning, and we are happy to discuss this with you during your embryologist call. For example, if you are planning ICSI, you won’t need a MOT 20 sample, for IUI an IUI ready/washed sample is great, but otherwise, an ICI would be preferable.

When should I be considering ordering donor sperm?

Choosing your donor can be a lengthy and difficult process. The sooner you start looking and narrowing down your choices, the better.

Our Embryology Transport Team advises ordering donor sperm at least 4 weeks prior to starting the relevant treatment cycle – to ensure no treatment delays and to complete any necessary documentation alongside the physical importation of the samples.

What happens once I’ve ordered my donor sperm?

There will be several legal consent forms to complete so the Embryology Transport Team can speak to your donor bank on your behalf. We will help you complete all these forms.

Once the consent is in place and you’ve had your Implications Counselling, the donor bank will provide the Embryology Transport Team with all the donor’s legal paperwork, and we also have to check with the HFEA, our regulator, that the donor is within the legal family limit.

Once we have everything in place, the Embryology Transport Team will let the bank know we’re ready to import the sample(s). The donor sperm normally takes up to a week to arrive.

The Embryology Transport Team will be in touch once the sample(s) are safely with us; only then can your treatment cycle commence.

How much does it cost to import and store donor sperm?

How The Evewell can help you with donor sperm selection

Selecting donor sperm can be daunting. Our team at The Evewell is dedicated to helping you throughout this journey by providing the information you need to make informed decisions, and we can arrange counselling to discuss the implications of different treatment options.

Each clinic has a donor sperm coordination team within the embryology team, meaning you will speak with one person who will follow your journey. Our embryologists are happy to arrange free consultations to support the donor sperm pathway and ensure patients are assisted in navigating the bank websites and understanding the regulations.