Men diagnosed with extreme degrees of male infertility may consider using a sperm donor. In this common approach, a couple selects a donor based on physical and educational characteristics.

Donor sperm may be acquired from a family member, friend, or an approved sperm bank and shipped to our clinic prior to the beginning of the recipient’s menstrual cycle.

When a known sperm donor is used, such as the male partner’s brother or nephew, their semen sample must be screened, just as if the person was to donate to a sperm bank. A fertility clinic stores samples in liquid nitrogen and then thaws them on the morning of insemination.

Most fertility specialists recommend that couples opting for a sperm donor meet with a specialist counselor to discuss the possible long-term implications.

In counseling, couples typically explore handling areas of potential difficulty such as the possible curiosity of a child regarding his or her genetic heritage, the discontinuity of traditional connectedness experienced in the parent/child relationship, and the various feelings that might crop up in the future.