Finding a donor

[Dreamscometrue1]

Hi everyone, just looking for people’s advise who are currently looking for a sperm donor. Are you having trouble with the shortage of donors? Also, if you have used a donor in the past, how much does the genetic tests of the donor matter?

[Aurora20]

I don’t have any advice just wanted to say good luck xx

[Dreamscometrue1 in reply to Aurora20]

Thank you xx

[Rumi40]

Hi I have used them in the past and believe the donor bank does all the genetic testing etc. one vial cost me £1050. its not cheap. good luck my love

[Helto200]

Hi. We uses donor sperm in the past. We have a beautiful little girl and I am about to get transfer tomorrow with the same donor sperm. We were very fortunate first round because it was funded through the NHS. We used the European sperm bank , and all the tests were already included. Can't really be much more help I'm afraid. It is a strange situation picking a donor. In all honesty we went with a donor that had similar characteristics to my hubby. Just so there was some similarities. If you have any other questions then don't hesitate to ask. Good luck. Xx

[Westcoastwestie]

Hi, we have just got a donor. Lucky enough to have found one with the NHS hospital we are at (£180) all tests seem done and dusted there were 3 other potentials but needing CMV negative trimmed down and this one matches my husband’s profile perfectly. Private clinics we were shopping around with didn’t have a match and wanted a lot more money just to read profiles.

[Dreamscometrue1 in reply to Westcoastwestie]

Yes I’m CMV negative as well which has made things more difficult. Don’t think I explained myself very well. I have just found a donor but he’s a carrier donor which I was wondering how much this matters

[Westcoastwestie in reply to Dreamscometrue1]

My husband had been reading about the washing process. I didn’t fully understand it but might be worth asking about.

[Goldenegg1 in reply to Dreamscometrue1]

Sorry I just got what you meant now with your post ignore my reply.

[LCharlton]

I'm CMV negative as well, we had to buy sperm from the States but did find some good options from US sperm banks - there were no matches in the UK or Europe for banks that work with our clinic. The shortage thing is crazy!

[Dreamscometrue1 in reply to LCharlton]

Do you mind if I ask which places you looked at in America and was this recently

[LCharlton in reply to Dreamscometrue1]

I think we're not meant to give company names here so I'll DM you

[JP2020]

Hi Dreamscometrue1 , we went with California Cryobank. Even though you have to pay custom fees on top of the vials you order, once it was converted from dollars to pounds I found them to be slightly cheaper than UK banks. Also, they have a lot more history on the donor. The only catch is, if your donor has a genetic issue, you will have to pay for genetic counseling but we found it really interesting and helped us confirm our decision. The company were very efficient.

[HemBella]

First time around I struggled for 18 months to find a donor. And I just wanted characteristics that looked like me. I used that ds for a while and then needed to find a new donor after low fertilization rates. The sperm and my eggs were just incompatible. The next time I sourced from London sperm bank. There wasn't much choice but I didn't want to wait 18 months again. Had better fertilization rates - 12/13 mature eggs.

The shortages are a real challenge. Good luck xx

[Goldenegg1]

Used a donor twice and yes there is a shortage of donors depending on your requests. Seems to be lots of donors available from abroad.

Genetic testing seems only to be simple questions asked about the donors family history and is reliant on honesty.

Unless I’m not aware of the more specific genetic testing done it’s just tests for infections etc that’s done by the clinic and motility / volume that’s tested..

Well that’s what I understood but I could be wrong.

[Jolinkomo]

My first daughter was conceived with donor sperm recruited through the black market. Had just cone out of infertile marriage broke from IVF etc. He did his tests and brought report from sperm donation clinic he was donating at Nottingham.

I did buy sperm from cryos Denmark and tried iui but didn't succeed. They screen the donors provide you their baby pictures profile, recorded voice and more that was a bit closer to my obsession to know who the donor is .

Years later I convinced a guy I met to freeze his sperm for me. He had done all the genetic tests and the clinic where we froze did additional tests.

I ended up shipping the sperm at £4000 between countries. Why did I do it? I am a bit crazy. I wanted to know who the donor is. Otherwise to get sperm from clinics is easier. They do all the tests.

Goodluck sweetheart. Everything will be alright

[Hidden]

Hi Dreamscometrue, I've used 3 different sperm donors and got them through Denmark, the bank do a test called geneXmatch which takes your DNA and the donors and tests it for 400 autosomal recessive conditions and checks that you both don't have the same varient for the same condition. I had a lot of genetic testing on both myself and the donor and had many conversations with the clinic and sperm bank about it. Basically we are probably all carriers of something but we would never normally know about it and it wouldn't normally be an issue. I guess it depends what exactly he's a carrier for and how common it is in the general population. If, for example, it's something like cystic fibrosis then that's a more common condition so it would be worth getting yourself tested too to make sure you don't have it too. If it's something much rarer than there's a good chance that you don't have it so it's unlikely to have an effect. Good luck with it all!

[Kyell2]

We used the London. All tests were done in advance so no extra costs and shipping included (I’m cmv negative too- the clinic told me this was the most common type) £950 a vial.

Wishing you lots of luck on your journey xx

[May37]

I did mine in Greece, not loads of donors so made choosing easier

[Missionofendo]

Yes I’ve used suggested ones from my clinic I found a few that use photos in USA or Denmark.Good luck 🤞🏻

[Bluelady-sing]

I plan to meet someone and ask them to donate to me, and be tested

[Bluelady-sing]

I am 44, I can not afford treatment yet it's a real pain

[Hope_1234]

Hey lovely. Me and my wife used sperm donors for our treatment. The first round we used the London sperm bank, the total was around £1000. That included the genetic testing (we didn't have great results but it could have been down to many things)

The second round we used a Danish sperm bank 'Cryos International', they have a lot of donors on there. You can filter and pay extra for adult photos, UK compliant donors, eye colour, hair colour etc. They do show baby photos of the donor free of charge. We paid around £1600 (that included shipping and the clinic also do all genetic testing on the donor)

I found them really good, you get a in-depth medical profile of the donor. Also get a extended profile giving information on the donors personality etc. I'd 100% recommend them x

[sunset212]

Hi Dreamsconetrue1, I used a sperm donor for both my children. Cryos Denmark are terrific. I have a child who I conceived with in 2018 and I am almost 30 weeks with my second. They are great they give all the screening provided in the price, handwritten letter and voice as well as child photo of the donor and their likes/dislikes /dreams and aspirations as well as family tree and any diseases in the family to be aware of. It starts at about £500 for a vial up to £800 ish for highest motility vials. Best wishes. They can also store them for kengthy periods on your behalf until you are ready to use or try again for a small annual fee. Xx