Accessing safe, quality sperm through our donor program
Queensland Fertility Group’s sperm donation program helps registered heterosexual couples, same sex couples and single women successfully conceive their baby. Our sperm bank was created over 30 years ago, and today offers a range and supply of donor semen.
We select our donors very carefully, and the semen is of the highest quality, fully tested and screened to meet Australian standards. This assures recipients’ safety and the highest chance of conception.
Many people access the program for different reasons, including those who have concerns over hereditary diseases or conditions, or where the male partner is azoospermic – that is, he produces no sperm.
We do not refuse treatment on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation.
Donor semen is used in a range of treatments from intrauterine insemination (IUI) to IVF and ICSI.
You can use sperm donated by someone you know, or from an anonymous donor who has donated directly to Queensland Fertility Group. We have a pool of potential donors, including donors from overseas.
Counselling
Anyone accessing donated sperm through Queensland Fertility Group must attend a counselling session with a registered infertility counsellor or psychologist. This helps you understand the social and psychological considerations of using donated sperm.
Choosing a sperm donor
We select donors very carefully. They must be fit and healthy, and have no chromosomal abnormalities, specific infectious diseases, or any identified history of hereditary diseases. Of course, they must also have high potential fertility, so we check every specimen of semen before and after freezing to make sure it is of an acceptable standard. We freeze all donor semen in liquid nitrogen, and thaw it shortly before use in fertility treatment.
Confidentiality
We maintain full confidentiality of donor records and your personal files. However, guidelines specify that any children arising from the use of donor sperm have the right to know the donor’s identity – once they turn 18.
What types of donated sperm can I access?
Semen for ICSI treatment only
Some of the sperm donated to Queensland Fertility Group, although normal and healthy in every other respect, is not suitable for intrauterine insemination (IUI), so it’s used only for ICSI treatment programs. This type offers women under 38 years old a success rate of over 40% in each treatment cycle of ICSI treatment.
Semen for Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
We have donor semen imported from a commercial sperm bank in the USA. It comes from a relatively small number of donors whose semen is of the quality needed for intrauterine insemination (IUI), and meets all international and Australian accrediting bodies’ requirements, including the donor’s identity for future release to any resulting children.
Most women under the age of 38 who access this kind of donated sperm become pregnant within six cycles of IUI treatment. Our semen donor coordinators can discuss the costs associated with the reservation of this semen if you wish to explore this option.
Pregnancy from donor insemination
Once you have conceived through donor insemination, your pregnancy should follow a normal course – it will not affect your chances of a normal pregnancy, delivery or a normal child. In fact, the chances of miscarriage or having a baby with some abnormality are slightly less than for one conceived normally.
Limits on using donated sperm
Queensland Fertiliy Group follows a policy where no more than ten families should come from any one donor. So donors will become unavailable once their sperm has reached this limit. In other words, a donor’s sperm is usually only accessible for a limited period.
Accessing donated sperm
Through local donors
We will provide you with information about current local donors. You can then pay to reserve and store some of your chosen donor semen for later use.
Imported donor sperm
If you decided to use imported donor semen, we then ask you to pay for it before you use it. You can buy up to two ampoules to cover further attempts should the first be unsuccessful – or for future pregnancy. If you achieve the family you desire, and have donor semen still in storage, we may agree to buy it back.
The legal side of things
Donor insemination in Australia requires the full consent of the woman and any partner. Legally, children born as a result are treated as the children of the consenting couple’s marriage or partnership. Donors have no legal or financial obligation to – or legal rights to – children born through use of their semen.
The risk of infection
All donors are carefully screened and receive blood tests for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV (AIDS) and Hepatitis B and C, HTLV I and II, on a three-monthly basis. Since donor semen is stored for a minimum of six months, any donor will have been screened at least twice before his semen is used, thereby exceeding the incubation time for any sexually transmitted disease. So, there is negligible chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease from the use of donor semen.
Find out more
If you have any questions about accessing donated sperm, discuss them first with your doctor, or make an appointment with the Queensland Fertility Group’s Infertility Counsellor/Psychologist. We also have a library that lends books about all aspects of accessing and using donor semen.
Email us a question, or call 1800 111 483
