Let us guide you through a successful route to parenthood
Giving life to a child is the most pristine thing in life and choosing the right donor perhaps one of your single most important choices ever.
Our role as a sperm bank is to assist you with making that choice by sharing our knowledge and giving you the tips that can make a difference.
There are several key aspects to consider- both practical and emotional. Practical aspects include deciding on how and where to get inseminated, the ordering process and parent storage. Emotional considerations include deciding on whether to use an open or a non-contact donor and which donor characteristics that are important to you.
The process
These are important considerations, which may require some time. Our goal is to make sure that you are able to concentrate on making the right choice of sperm donor for you – which is why we have designed a straightforward 9-step process that summarizes our key learnings over the years. There is also an easy checklist for you to download.
If you have any questions, at any point, please feel free to contact us.
Understanding the process!
The 9 key steps to choosing the right sperm donor for you.
1 Starting out
The first step is to decide how and where you prefer to get treated – at home or in a clinic. A clinic helps you get pregnant by advising you on treatment methods and doing a range of tests on your fertility, hormones, blood and cycle. At home, you self-manage insemination. The next step is to make an appointment at your chosen clinic or see a health care professional.
If you have not yet chosen a clinic, we are happy to advise you on a clinic near you. We understand that some people have special needs and we are confident, that we can guide you to appropriate clinics. Please feel free to contact us.
2 Open or Non-contact donor?
In some countries, you can decide whether you prefer an Open or a Non-contact donor. If you have the choice, it is an important question to consider as it has long-term implications for your child. To aid you with the decision we have created an overview of the differences – the facts as well as emotional aspects that women and families typically raise with us. Read more.
3 ICI, IUI and Straws
When you review the donors, you will see that there are two types of sperm available: IUI and ICI. In short the difference is that IUI-ready sperm has been washed while ICI holds all of the naturally occurring ejaculate fluid and cells. (Both types work for most treatment methods). ICI units need to be washed before use for most treatments, and unless your clinic has asked specifically for ICI (or you wish home insemination), we recommend IUI. You will also be asked how many straws you want to buy. This number depends on your individual test results and treatment method so we recommend that you check with your clinic.
Please note only a limited number of pregnancy slots are available for each donor and there is also a pregnancy limit for each donor. For this reason we advise you to discuss with your clinic how many treatments to plan for as you may want to consider a storage. We also recommend that you think about potential siblings as early as possible, if you want to use the same donor.
If your fertility clinic is not able to store your straws till you need them, enquire about our courtesy hold or purchase a Parent Storage with us. If you want siblings with the same donor, Parent Storage is always your best option.
4 How to choose the right sperm donor
In order to choose the right sperm donor for you, you need to decide which characteristics are important to you. Do you want him to physically resemble you? Is it important that you share the same values and hobbies?
Sometimes in defining these criteria, it can be helpful to think about your favourite family member or best friend. Defining what parameters are the most important to you, can help you narrow the search and prioritise.
Our full sperm donor profiles included in the European Sperm Bank membership are extensive and offer extremely detailed information not only on his physical appearance, creative skills, hobbies, type of voice, education level, language skills, etc. but also on his family. This is to help you get a sense of who he is, how he looks and what talents he has. You can of course also choose based on the free basic donor profile, which contain limited data. This is a personal choice and what is important is that you choose based on what is important to you. All our sperm donors, open and non-contact, have both a basic and a full profile and undergo the same rigorous testing and assessment.
5 Select 3-5 favourite sperm donors
Use your criteria to select the sperm donors from our online donor list that are the best match for you. In our experience, this may take some time as you want to spent some time reading through all the material and understanding what is right for you. We strongly recommend