This is a question sperm bank Cryos International often come across, here they list their top tips to help you with your choicer
So, you’re in the process of finding a sperm donor and the question, “How can I know that my sperm donor is healthy?” pops into your head.
This is a question Cryos often come across, here we provide you with an answer to help you feel comfortable in your choice.
Not everyone can become a sperm donor
You might be surprised to learn that not every man is qualified to become a sperm donor. Cryos’ sperm donor program has a lot of donor requirements and pre-donation screening protocols. Not everyone who applies meets the standard and only about 5-10% of the donor applicants become sperm donors at Cryos.
In other words, no one can walk in from the street and donate his sperm to a sperm bank. All potential donors are carefully screened and tested.
How do we test potential sperm donors?
All potential donors are initially selected by Cryos’ staff based on age, noticeable risk behavior and sperm quality. If the donor meets the initial requirements, the potential donor will undergo a thorough medical testing to make sure that they are physically healthy and do not have any infectious diseases.
The donor applicant also completes a questionnaire on their family’s health history which is subsequently carefully reviewed and approved. Furthermore, the donors undergo a psychological evaluation and candidates with “risk behavior” are rejected.
After testing the donors for infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HTLV, we test the donors for hereditary diseases. At Cryos we have experts within the field of genetics and therefore, a comprehensive understanding of genetic conditions and genetic inheritance.
Our current testing covers up to 46 hereditary diseases. If we detect a hereditary disease, the donor applicant is rejected.
Screening in the donation period
If the donor applicant is approved as a sperm donor at Cryos, the donor is published in our Donor Search for purchase but the screening process does not end here. We need to make sure that our donors continue being healthy and therefore all approved donors are tested for infectious diseases on an ongoing basis for the entire donation period.
Get a copy of the test report
In our Donor Search, you can find the all donors’ test reports. It is called a Summary of Records, and it contains the test results. This report is also attached to the order confirmation when you order donor sperm from Cryos as well as enclosed in your package.
Despite a thorough screening, the risk of having a child with a medical condition can never be completely eliminated. All humans have medical conditions that we are not aware of, and it is next to impossible to screen for all medical conditions. We continuously look for ways to improve our screening to make sure that we can always guarantee the most healthy donors possible.
To sum up – you can always be sure that your donor has undergone a thorough physical examination, genetic screening and a psychological evaluation prior to becoming a donor, meaning donors are both healthy and safe to use for fertility treatment.