​HOW IS DONATED SPERM USED? FROM SPERM BANK TO PREGNANCY

When you donate sperm, what happens to it? How is your donated sperm used, and who uses it?

By understanding the journey of donor sperm once it leaves our Semovo sperm bank, you can see just how valued and priceless sperm donation is for those who need it:

Donor sperm storage: Highest standards for sperm success

Every time you donate sperm, we store it in our sperm bank laboratory in special tanks. Each vial of donor sperm is frozen in liquid nitrogen to preserve it, until you’re chosen by a fertility clinic patient to be their sperm donor. Patients make this decision using the personal Semovo sperm donor profile you complete as part of the sperm donation process.

Once you’re selected, vials of your sperm are prepared for dispatch to a licensed fertility clinic of the patient’s choice, if the clinic has an agreement for us to supply sperm. We send your sperm through specialist medical couriers in cooled boxes, to maintain the required storage temperature, and sperm viability, during transit.

Who needs your donor sperm?

Once your sperm arrives at the fertility clinic it will be thawed and analysed by their team of Andrologists, and prepared for use in your recipient patient’s treatment cycle.

The freezing and thawing process is why can only accept men who have the highest quality sperm – sperm that can withstand freezing and thawing and still be fertile and viable for pregnancy.

As for your recipient patient, she may be a single woman, or in a same-sex relationship. Or she may need donor sperm because her husband or partner has male fertility issues and can’t father a child naturally. No matter who uses your sperm and why, donor sperm is the only way your recipient can conceive and have a family.

Treatment using donor sperm

Your donor sperm can be used to fertilise your recipient patient’s eggs in a number of different ways. It may be used in IVF, where it will be mixed with eggs in the clinic laboratory.

Or it may be used in an ICSI – Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection – cycle, where a single healthy sperm is directly injected into each egg to fertilise it. Or it could be used for intrauterine insemination, where your sperm is inserted into your recipient’s uterus to fertilise the egg she naturally ovulates.

If your recipient patient has her own fertility issues, she may be using your donated sperm together with donor eggs to have a baby.

Your donated sperm will only be used by the clinic for the patient who chose you as her sperm donor. It won’t be used in any other patient’s treatment cycle.

Success rates using donor sperm

Whether your sperm successfully conceives a child for your recipient depends on a number of factors, including the quality of eggs fertilised, whether these result in quality embryos for transfer and the type of fertility treatment. IVF and ICSI have higher success rates than insemination. It can typically take a few cycles of insemination to achieve pregnancy, because it so closely mimics natural conception.

You can be assured though that as a Semovo sperm donor, we know your sperm is the best it can be. So any issues with failed cycles are unlikely to be related to sperm issues.

If your recipient becomes pregnant, we can let you know if you wish to find out. You’re also entitled to know if a baby is born, the year of its birth and its gender.

Sperm donor siblings

If your recipient has a baby, she may decide to reserve further vials of your sperm for future treatment, so she has the opportunity to grow her family whilst ensuring her children share the same genetic parentage. Your sperm can only be used to create a maximum 10 separate families, but there’s no limit within these families so donor siblings can be created.

Inspirational patient stories – the difference donor sperm makes

Read some of the patient stories from our sister clinic, Manchester Fertility. Many of these patients used Semovo donor sperm to conceive their families.

If you’d like to help, join Semovo and donate sperm with us. You’re guaranteed only the highest level of care when you donate to us at our sperm donor linics in Manchester, Liverpool or Leeds, with a sperm donor journey that’s tailored to you and on your terms.

Explore the sperm donation process, read our FAQs and learn more about sperm donor criteria. If you’d like to apply, complete our no obligation application form and we’ll come back to you. If you’d like to have a chat with us about being a sperm donor, we’re available on 0345 266 1272.