Treatment using donor sperm
Donor sperm is needed for a variety of reasons:
- Where a couple’s cause of infertility is due to a lack of sperm, or a very low sperm count, not suitable for ICSI
- Where the male partner has a heritable disease and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is not suitable
- For single women and same-sex couples.
Sperm donors are recruited from a wide range of backgrounds. They are required to be fit and healthy, with no family history of hereditary disease. Donors are screened for a variety of infectious conditions, including HIV and hepatitis, and for some genetic conditions, according to national guidelines.
As far as possible we try to match donor characteristics to the patient’s requirements - ethnicity, skin, hair/eye colour, height etc.
The Centre believe in the importance of UK policy around family limits, and respect the UK and ESHRE best practice guidance around clear information for patients. We therefore will not import sperm from centres where these requirements are not met . We encourage all patients, via engagement with our counselling service, to understand the potential negative impact of unregulated family size on their potential child.
Donor sperm can be used in conjunction with artificial insemination, IVF or ICSI.
At our centre, all donors and patients receiving donor gametes must have implications counselling.