All about sperm donation

Sperm donation allows one to know the joy of motherhood, and the other - brings a good income. Sperm banks in Russia appeared relatively recently, but they are already in great demand, because the number of infertile couples and single women is growing. In this material, we will talk about what the ejaculate donation is, how to become a donor and whether it is possible to choose a donor to solve our reproductive problems.

The sperm bank is a repository of cryopreserved ejaculate of healthy and examined donors. Such banks today are in almost every clinic that specializes in the implementation of methods of reproductive assistive technology.

Donor biomaterial is very popular in large cities and small settlements. IVF or intrauterine insemination with donor sperm is carried out in cases where the male seminal fluid is unsuitable for fertilization of the female egg, even in the embryological laboratory. Severe violations, which often require a decision on the use of donor ejaculate, include:

• aspermia - the complete absence of germ cells in the seminal fluid;
• necrospermia - the presence of only dead gametes in the ejaculate;
• complete loss of spermatogenesis - the absence of testicles;
• the presence of a man of severe genetic pathologies that have a high risk of being inherited by offspring.

The donor biomaterial will be offered to married couples in the case of genetic incompatibility of partners, since fertilization does not occur during this process either naturally, either with IVF or ICSI. In other words, the spermatozoon cannot connect correctly to the egg either in the test tube or under the microscope by injecting the sperm directly into the egg. Gametes simply cannot create a full-fledged DNA kit.

Not all couples agree to this solution to the problem of infertility, since not all men are morally ready to accept a child who will be blood and family only for the mother. Many religions condemn the use of donor sperm and regard this as a violation of the inviolable sacrament of marriage between a man and a woman. Do not give a blessing to such a procedure in Orthodoxy (if we are talking about a married couple), does not approve of its Islam and completely reject Catholicism. Doctors do not force, they only suggest possible exits, but to agree or not is everyone’s right.

It is very difficult to become a donor: the requirements for the representatives of the stronger sex, who want to benefit, and at the same time to earn extra money, are high. Sometimes donation is not commercially available. These are cases when a man is recommended to cryoconserve his own ejaculate for the future (delayed paternity program). This is true for men, whose work is dangerous and difficult, the military, fighting in “hot spots”, those who work in hazardous industries and risk losing their fertility due to exposure to heavy metal salts, toxins, and radiation.

Not so long ago, banks were limited only by the requirements recommended by the Ministry of Health and specified in the order of the Ministry of Health No. 107n. Now the approach has become more selective, and, in addition to stringent medical requirements for a candidate donor, others are being made. Thus, a psychotherapist or a psychologist at a bank or IVF clinic will definitely find out the state of the intellect, the level of education, the degree of psychological and emotional adequacy. The appearance of the donor should not be bright and memorable, but the man should be pleasant in appearance, have the correct facial features.

Social characteristics also play a role. Thus, a homeless or former prisoner may not be allowed to donate. Also, a clinic or a bank, according to the terms of its own contract with donors, refuses to donate homosexuals, asocial men, men who have done new tattoos or piercings for a year, because there was a risk of infection.

The medical requirements recorded in the order of the Ministry of Health are:

• the age of the donor is not less than 20 years and not more than 40 years;
• full responsibility confirmed by a psychiatrist;
• lack of hereditary diseases;
• absence of chronic diseases;
• the absence of infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases, as well as HIV;
• high reproductive capacity, confirmed by the results of semen.

In the ejaculate of a candidate for sperm donors there must be at least 80 million germ cells per milliliter of seminal fluid. The volume of ejaculate should exceed 2 milliliters. Sperm should not contain leukocytes above the WHO-approved rate, which is equal to 1 million leukocytes per 1 milliliter of ejaculate. The main thing is mobile and active sperm without signs of morphological changes and mutations. Such gametes should be at least 60%.

It is important that sperm cells have a good chance of staying alive after they are unfrozen. Therefore, trial cryopreservation is carried out. After thawing the material, ideally, it should survive and retain all the basic properties of at least half of the active and progressively mobile cells.

If a man is sure that he can and wants to be a donor, he should contact the reproductive bank, any agency that specializes in the selection of surrogate mothers, egg donors and sperm, or in any clinic that conducts in vitro fertilization. After meeting with the staff of the clinic, talking with a psychologist or a psychologist, the man is asked to fill out a questionnaire and give out a referral for tests.

The first and most important analysis, after which up to 70% of those who want to become ejaculate donors are “screened out” - spermogram. Before taking an analysis, it is important to refrain from sexual contact and masturbation for 4–6 days, and a healthy lifestyle is also recommended - you should not drink or smoke. You can not visit the bath and sauna and wear tight, tight underwear. A man should not take antibiotics and hormones, anticonvulsants and painkillers.

Rent analysis in the clinic masturbation method. A day later, the conclusion is usually ready. If the quality of sperm meets the stringent requirements listed above, the man is given referrals to specialist doctors: a cardiologist, a general practitioner, a urologist, a genetics specialist, a neurologist, a psychiatrist. In addition, the candidate donor must pass the necessary laboratory tests. These include general and biochemical blood tests, urinalysis, blood for HIV status, syphilis, Rh and blood group, blood test for genital infections, for TORCH infections, as well as viral hepatitis B and C, semen for Bakposev. A man smears a urethra smear for the presence of pathological flora, traces of genital infections, including “winged”: chlamydia, mycoplasma, etc.

A geneticist will give directions for a blood test for karyotyping.This will help to identify whether a man is a carrier of mutated chromosomes, which can turn into serious diseases or defects for the offspring produced by him.

With the conclusions and references, a man admitted to the donation program is sent to the selected clinic and concludes a donor contract.

After depositing sperm for storage and freezing it, a man is invited to appear at the clinic six months later. If the examination for infections after this time does not reveal any abnormalities, then quarantine is recognized as successfully passed, sperm is allowed before the IVF protocols and can be used for insemination.

Subsequently, the sperm donor is examined for major infections, HIV, syphilis, hepatitis and urogenital infections once a year. His data is stored in the registry of donors. A man can donate sperm up to 6 times a month. For each donation, the donor pays 2-2.5 thousand rubles.

The questionnaire that each donor fills out includes the details: last name, first name, patronymic, date of birth and address of registration, as well as a photo. But the client will never receive this information, because the sperm is donated to the donor on a confidential basis. This item must be specified in the contract.

Thus, the donor will be selected by the specialists of the clinic, starting from the expressed preferences of the woman or the couple, which required a donor ejaculate. For those for whom it is intended, only general data will be reported: the growth and build of the donor, nationality, appearance type, eye color and hair color, age and occupation. Personal information can not be conveyed to recipients in order to avoid complications in the future, because grown up children, which can number several dozen, can one day find the biological parent. This probability is negligible, especially in large cities.

A man who has become a donor may not fear that he will be served for alimony, even if there is a leak of information about his personality. The donor, according to the current legislation and the contract, does not bear any moral and legal responsibility and does not have any rights to a child who will be conceived with the use of his biological material.

The donor should ideally be like a man who will be considered the father of the child after his birth. This will save a couple of oblique looks and whispers behind his back. But how to do this, if you look at photos of donors in the database for patients is not possible?

You can, of course, trust the doctors, who will verbally describe you a section of the eyes, the shape of the ears and nose of the donor, whose sperm are planned to be used, and you can make a choice yourself. This opportunity offers Reprobank (bank of reproductive tissues). Experts have found an interesting way out: they stir the identification number of the active donor, indicate the height, hair color and blood type and attach a photo of a man in childhood. This allows couples and single women who choose a donor, to better understand the facial features and appearance of a man. You can see it here: https: // reprobank. com / bank-donorov / katalog-donorov-spermi /.

Single women are less critical to the choice of appearance, but more demanding on the psychological qualities of the donor. It is important for a woman that a child be born from a clever man, interesting, and sometimes even successful.Therefore, for single women, a psychological portrait of the donor and the results of his IQ test can be presented. Also, women will be told about the profession and occupation of the donor, about his hobby. So it will be much easier for the patient to make a decision and find out first of all for herself whether she wants a child from such a man or not.

Donor sperm increases the cost of an IVF protocol or insemination procedure by 20-40 thousand rubles. Some couples use the services of open donors. They can be friends, relatives, acquaintances. In this case, an open donor must come to the reception together with a married couple or a single woman, sign the consent to the test and pass it (at the customer’s expense), then donate the sperm once, not forgetting to sign an agreement specifying legal nuances.

Such a man in the bank of active donors will not fall. His biomaterial will be used if all medical requirements are met only once: for IVF or customer insemination.

“Own” donor is a risky adventure. It is not excluded that a man may later begin to feel tender feelings for the child and will tell the grown-up baby about his origin. Psychiatrists do not test open donors and psychologists do not test, and therefore no one can give guarantees that inadequacy does not manifest itself even with a well-known person. Yes, at a certain stage it will help save costs, but the future of the family and a big secret that only three people should know will be at risk, a doctor, a husband and a wife.

Single women who are looking for a donor and consult at the same time on thematic forums often face misunderstanding and even aggression. They are accused of wanting to give birth, without thinking that they deliberately deprive the child of the father. To pay attention to such attacks is not worth it, and it is better to consult not on the Internet, but in any clinic with specialists, as a last resort - on the forums of clinics where you can get a response from a qualified specialist who will never condemn.

Men who want to become donors, reviews are rarely left. But quite often they offer their services in women's forums. Such ads should not be trusted: 90% of these men did not pass the requirements of clinics and sperm banks by some parameters (spermogram, psychiatrist, testing, tests). The inability to earn money officially, being an anonymous active donor, and pushes them to place self-advertising.

Families that underwent IVF with donor sperm often break up afterwards. Alas, this is a sad and irrefutable fact.

See how to become a cryobank sperm donor in the next video.