Sperm Banks

Sperm banks or cryobanks are facilities that collect and store human sperm from sperm donors, for the purpose of achieving pregnancies through artificial insemination. Sperm donated in this way is known as donor sperm.

A sperm bank may not be a fertility clinic, but instead they ship the sperm to the clinic where the fertility treatment takes place. This enables you to have a wider choice of donors.
 

By donating sperm, thousands of women every year are able to have their own children by using a sperm bank in circumstances where this would not otherwise be possible. Lesbian couples, single women and women with infertile male partners all benefit from the existence of sperm banks.

Considering donating through a sperm bank? Donating through a sperm bank means that the sperm will be frozen and used 6 months later after all health checks, infection testing and genetic tests have been completed. Men donating through sperm banks do not know who the sperm will be donated to. 

As a known donor you can donate directly to a woman/couple of your choice. You can go along to a fertility clinic with your recipient whereby they will do all the checks neccessary.

Alternatively donating directly to women using a service such as Pride Angel means that fresh sperm can be donated via home insemination which has a higher success rate of pregnancy than using frozen sperm.

If choosing sperm through a sperm bank you will be able to select donors from a catalogue, being able to choose certain basic characteristics about the sperm donor such as height, weight, eye colour but there are not normally sufficient details to tell you about facial structure, personality or mental capacity.

Pride Angel allows members to complete advanced searches on donors, co-parents and recipients, finding out more details about a donor or recipient than would be offered by sperm banks.

In addition you would personally meet the donor and be able to maintain contact if you choose.

Choosing a donor through a sperm bank will mean you do not have the concern of the donor having any involvement with the child’s upbringing, until they reach 18 years when they may wish to contact the donor. You also have the reassurance of knowing that the donor will have no legal right over the child and that all health screening tests are completed.

Within sperm banks, donors are tested for diseases and infections such as HIV, HTLV-1 and HTLV-2, syphilis, Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and cystic fibrosis.

The main disadvantage of using a sperm bank to choose a donor is that you are not able to get sufficient information about the donor, for example facial characteristics, personality, sense of humour and mental capacity. Also a consideration for many single women and couples is that they may wish for the donor to have some contact with the child even if they are not in a co-parenting arrangement. This often has a beneficial effect for the child’s identity.

For the donor the disadvantage on donating directly to a sperm bank is that you are unable to choose the woman or couple you would like to help and you are not able to keep in touch if you choose to.

The options for lesbian couples, single women and infertile couples are increasing, with internet connection websites now allowing people to personally meet donors, co-parents and recipients, with the view of having a child through artificial insemination.

There are many advantages to choosing your own donor: you able able to see their characteristics and personality. In addition you can show your child photos of their donor and some may wish to maintain contact via emails, birthday cards or even meet occasionally as the child is growing up.

Unlike any other connection service Pride Angel is a user friendly site, with advanced search facility, fertility kits, artificial insemination kits and quality information on health screening and legal matters.

Pride Angel recommends that members do use fertility clinics for fertility treatment once they have found their parenting match, however some members do choose to use home insemination using an artificial insemination kit, once all necessary health checks have been completed.