| Donor Insemination |
| Indications for IUI with Donor Sperm: |
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The male partner has no sperm or poor sperm activity.
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The male partner is a carrier of a serious genetic disorder. For IUID, frozen donor sperm will be thawed and prepared as for IUI.
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At the time of initial consultation the doctor or the embryologist will take both partners characteristics for future reference. At this time the female partner will be screened for CMV (see below). You must ring the embryologist on the first day of your cycle as you start your treatment so that they are aware that you will be requiring donor sperm soon and they can start the matching process. The final decision regarding which donor to be used is up to you. This process must be repeated for every subsequent IUID treatment cycle or the sperm may not be available for your treatment.
Couples are counselled very carefully by both the consultant and independent counsellor before donor sperm is considered for treatment.
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A consent form must be signed.
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A donor sperm requirement form detailing the physical characteristics of both male and female partner must be completed before treatment. A donor is assigned according to the given physical characteristics and is matched as closely as possible.
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Donor sperm is obtained from various Donor sperm banks throughout the UK. All donors are carefully screened regarding their general health and history of hereditary conditions. Blood tests are carried out to screen for genetic disorders, HIV, Hepatitis B, sexually transmitted diseases, CMV and cystic fibrosis. All Donor sperm is quarantined for 6 months before the donor is re screened and cleared for HIV.
All patients requiring Donor sperm will require a screening test for CMV.
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Is using donor sperm anonymous?
Under existing regulations people donating sperm, eggs or embryos have remained anonymous. From 1st April 2005 all children born as a result of sperm, egg or embryo donation will be able to access the identity of their donor when they reach the age of 18.
The earliest 18 year olds to do this will be in 2023. These new regulations regarding information on donors will not be retrospective. All donors before April 2005 will remain anonymous.
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Why has donor anonymity has been removed?
Many people believe that children born from donated sperm, egg or embryo should have access to information regarding their genetic origins. The HFEA supports the removal of donor anonymity.
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Will the removal of anonymity affect the future availability of donors?
It is acknowledged that ending donor anonymity will present some risk to the future availability of donors. However, the HFEA feels that this practical consideration should not outweigh the more fundamental principle that donor offspring should have knowledge of their genetic origins, if they wish to do so.
Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (1990) Act, the HFEA was required to set up and maintain a register of information on donors. The purpose of this register set up in 1991, was to keep a record of all donors, licensed treatments and children born as a result of donated sperm, eggs or embryos. Under existing regulations, when these children reach 18 they may ask the HFEA to confirm that they were born as a result of donated sperm, eggs or embryos.
Those intending to marry, including those who plan to do so before their 18th birthday may also check the HFEA Register to determine if they are related to the person they intend to marry. In December 2001 the Department of Health published a consultation on the provision of information to people born as a result of sperm, egg or embryo donation.
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If my treatment with donor sperm is unsuccessful, will the same donor be available for future attempts?
We cannot guarantee that the donor will be the same during the next treatment cycle as each donor is only allowed to achieve 10 pregnancies and this number may be reached at any time. The reason behind this rule is to ensure that there are not too many offsprings from the same donor.
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What if I am successful and then wish to use the same donor for a fresh attempt?
This is possible even if the donor has achieved 10 pregnancies already. Any sibling donor sperm will have to be reserved for you, as it may be that by the time you return for further treatment that there are no samples of that particular sperm left at the donor bank.
We will remind you at the time of your last pregnancy scan at this clinic, that this is the time to reserve sperm for future use if you so wish. At this point we will also advise you about the number of ampoules of sperm you need and the cost. Unfortunately in some cases, that particular stock of sperm may have run out already and therefore there will be none available for future sibling use.
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