If you require a sperm donor to start your family, you might like to know the following things. 

There are actually two ways of working with a sperm donor. You can find one anonymously through an organization or in some cases the donor can be someone that you know and it will be coordinated through a clinic. In Ireland, there are no sperm donor clinics so many Irish people when choosing a sperm donor, look to countries like Denmark. 

The amount of information that can be obtained about the sperm donor really varies from clinic to clinic. In some cases, the information will be very basic and may simply include age, hair colour and ethnicity. But in many cases, the donor will provide information on their background, personality traits and extensive information on their health. They may also include information about the health of their family. 

You can be sure that the person donating the sperm has gone through vigorous testing to ensure that their sperm is of good quality. After all, sperm is a huge part of the fertilization process and clinics want to ensure that the pregnancy and baby are given the best opportunity to grow and develop. 

On a basic level, the sperm donor will be asked about their general health and sexual health. They will be asked about the number of sexual partners they have had as well as any relevant sexual health concerns or experiences throughout their life. The regulations and compliance levels will differ depending on the country the sperm donation is coming from. Sperm from a European country may not be UK compliant for example. It is important to do your homework to ensure that you are comfortable with this side of things. 

When it comes to how the Sperm donation is used there are usually two options for fertilization. In some cases, the sperm can be clinically placed directly into the womb during the woman’s fertile window. In other cases, it can be used in IVF in which case it is fertilized with the female’s eggs outside of the woman’s body and then the embryo is transferred into the Uterus during a procedure. 

The cost of a sperm donation varies from clinic to clinic but it will be somewhere between €400 and €1000. The price tends to be higher if you choose a sperm donor which has decided to make themselves identifiable. 

Sperm donors who make their identities available to the family are rarer than anonymous donors but the level at which they allow themselves to be identified varies greatly too. In some cases, photographs can be seen – both present and passed and in other cases, the stipulation is that when the child is eighteen they will have the right to seek out who their biological father was. It depends on the clinic you use, the donor’s preferences and the specific terms of your agreement. 

If you would like your future children to be conceived using the same sperm then it might be an idea to purchase it in advance. Your fertility clinic should be able to go through the process of storage with you. In some countries, there is a legal limit as to how many times a person’s sperm can be used in fertility clinics.