Many single women and couples resort to using donor sperm to achieve their goal of having a family. Single or gay women or couples where the male partner has no sperm or carries a genetic abnormality may choose to use donor sperm from a sperm bank or to use sperm donated from someone they know, such as a relative or close friend.
Definition
A sperm donor can be anonymous or known, paid or unpaid, well-screened medically or not screened at all. Rigorous screening is required for anonymous donors, but a close friend may not undergo any testing, if insemination with fresh sperm is done at home. Sperm donation done in conjunction with assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination, requires medical screening, even if using a known donor.
Requirements
Donors going through a sperm bank must undergo testing for infections, such as HIV and hepatitis, states Vanessa Pi in the paper "Regulating Sperm Donation" from the 2009 "Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy." A thorough review of family history and a routine physical, including an EKG, may be part of the screening process. Many centers also require psychological testing. Detailed semen analysis weeds out candidates with poor sperm quality. Some sperm banks have very stringent requirements, accepting only college graduates, men over a certain height and between certain ages, and those of normal weight. Only a few centers require genetic testing, which is not mandated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Anonymous donors are paid for their donations.
Donor Banks
Approximately two dozen sperm banks exist in the United States, reports Pi. Sperm banks must register with and are regulated by the FDA. National directories of sperm banking facilities and individual clinic information is readily available on the Internet; frozen sperm can be shipped anywhere in the United States.
Choosing a Donor
Most sperm banks provide lists of available donors, including detailed information and, often, a baby picture; however, they do not provide an adult picture.
Considerations
People who conceive children via sperm donation must make a decision on whether or not to tell their children about their origins when they are old enough. Parents who choose not to tell must consider that the truth may come out eventually, especially if the child develops a genetically inherited problem. Some children of sperm donors wish to find their biological parent when they are old enough to search; around 1/3 of children conceived through an open-identity donor program wanted to find their donor once they reached age 20, reported Joanna Scheib, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis at the 2008 annual meeting of ASRM, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
The risk of fathering too many children within a geographical area who might later become sexually involved leads most centers to limit the number of children a man can sire, according to Stanford University.
