If you need to use donor sperm to have a baby, you may be wondering just how we ensure that the sperm we have available is safe to use – both for you and any child you have.

In America, where sperm donation is unregulated, there have been recent cases where couples and women have used donor sperm, only to later find out once their child had been born that the donor carried a genetic disease, leaving their child with long-term health issues.

Is this likely to happen here? If you use sperm donated by HFEA-licensed donors at a licensed clinic, then you can be reassured that stringent testing is done to potential sperm donors and their samples before they can be accepted as donors and their sperm cleared for use.

This is why it’s so important to only use sperm from regulated sources, such as licensed fertility clinics.

At Manchester Fertility Services, all potential sperm donors are screened for infectious diseases:

• HIV 1 and 2
• Hepatitis B and C
• HTLV I and II
• Sexually-transmitted diseases including syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia
• Cytomegalovirus

We also have strict genetic testing for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and also karyotype testing, which examines whether the donor has normal chromosomes.

Depending on the ethnic origin of a would-be donor, we also look for the conditions sickle cell, βthalassemia and Tay-sachs diseases. Sperm samples also have swabs taken to rule out bacterial infections.

All of this testing is done as part of our through medical consultation, where our doctors go into full details about the prospective donor’s family history. If there’s any evidence of inherited serious medical conditions within the family, then the donor will not be accepted onto our programme.

So if you’re thinking about using donor sperm, or are considering becoming one of our sperm donors, then you can be assured that we take great care to ensure the safety of our patients who need donor sperm, and of our donors themselves.

For details about treatment using donor sperm, click here and if you want to find out more about what we look for in a sperm donor, visit our FAQs page.

Did you know that a lot of our sperm donors are men who have already had children? And many of our egg donors are women who have completed their families and want others to have the same hope?

It doesn’t matter if you’re already had children. As long as you’re within the right age group to be a donor, then you could potentially become a sperm or egg donor. Sperm donors need to be between the ages of 18 and 45 and egg donors need to be aged 35 and under. We have age limits in place because we have to ensure that the eggs and sperm donated are the best quality they can be.

And as your natural fertility declines as you get older, for women in particular we need to ensure that eggs are retrieved at the optimum time for them to be used as donor eggs. Of course if you’re over 35 it doesn’t mean your eggs are no good anymore – you can of course still get pregnant naturally, it’s just that your eggs may not be suitable as donor eggs.

It’s the same for sperm – sperm has to be able to withstand the various procedures such as freezing and thawing, so even if your sperm isn’t suitable as donor sperm, it doesn’t mean you can’t get someone pregnant.

Even if you think you may want more children in the future, you can still donate. Donating sperm obviously doesn’t affect fertility, and various studies have shown that donating eggs doesn’t have a negative impact on your fertility.

And if you’re accepted as a donor, you won’t be out of pocket. All of our sperm and egg donors now receive the higher compensation rates from the HFEA. Egg donors now receive £750 per cycle, whilst sperm donors receive £35 for every visit they make to donate. So although becoming a donor needs a lot of commitment, this is now being compensated for.

So if you’re the right age, why not consider being a donor? The main criteria are age, and a healthy medical history. There are screening tests involved before you’re accepted, and not everyone who applies has the right quality of eggs or sperm to become donors. But more people than ever need donor sperm and donor eggs. Could you help?

Why not discuss it with your family and see what they think. It’s important to remember that there are implications to donating – you must agree to be identifiable to any children conceived from your eggs or sperm if they wish to find out about you when they turn 18. But your identity is never revealed to the recipients of your eggs or sperm – in this sense donation is still anonymous. And you’re not financially or legally responsible or liable for any child born as a result of your donation. The recipients are the legal parents.

If you have more questions, visit our FAQs page to find out more. If you think you’d like to become a sperm or egg donor, you can also apply online here.

At Manchester Fertility Services we have one of the most successful donor sperm banks in the UK thanks to our Manchesterdonors.com programme, but there are still some couples who face a long wait for donor sperm – namely couples seeking a donor of the same ethnicity as themselves.

Now a Bollywood film is shining the spotlight on the issue of sperm donation with a new film ‘Vicky Donor’, a subject that’s never before been so publicly discussed.

We’re aware that donating sperm and perhaps even using donor sperm to have a family is often a taboo subject, but infertility affects everyone, regardless of ethnicity. It’s a very real issue facing thousands of couples every day, who want nothing more than a child of their own from the same ethnic group as themselves, but who face a very long wait simply because there isn’t sperm available with the same ethnic match.

We hope that now, by bringing the issue of sperm donation into the mainstream, that ‘Vicky Donor’ will go some way to raising awareness of the need for sperm donors amongst communities where it’s typically not discussed.

We’ve long appealed for more donors across all ethnic groups, because we want to give the many patients who come to us for help the best chance we can.

Remember you can talk to us in confidence about donating sperm, with no obligation, by calling us on 0161 227 0010. You can also visit our FAQs to find out more about what’s involved. Sperm donors now receive £35 for every visit to our clinic to take into account  their commitment when they become a registered donor.

You could be the very person who could change someone’s life by giving them the most precious gift – the hope of a family. Please contact us today to find out more.

Following the increase in compensation rates for sperm and egg donors, which came into force at the beginning of April, the HFEA has now announced plans to help raise awareness of the need for more sperm and egg donors.

The new HFEA National Donation Strategy Group follows on from the extensive public consultation on the whole issue of sperm and egg donation last year, and is aimed at encouraging more donors to come forward.

Importantly, one of the aims is to also improve the care given to existing donors. At Manchester Fertility Services, we launched our Manchesterdonors.com recruitment programme to raise awareness and meet the increased demand for donor eggs and sperm from our patients, whose only hopes of a family lie with people coming forward to donate eggs or sperm.

We have always prided ourselves on the personal care we give to all of our donors – because simply we realise that all of our donors – whether they are altruistic donors or those who are part of our successful egg-sharing programme -  are very special.

Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to help the many people who are now proud parents of children they never thought they could have. We get to know all of our donors very well, and our friendly approach and focused campaigning means we’re one of the leading sperm banks in the UK with no waiting lists for treatment using donor sperm.

Donating sperm or eggs isn’t something that anyone does lightly. It takes commitment to attend regular appointments, counselling and screening, willingness to undergo procedures like egg retrieval and vitally the desire to ensure that any children born can know about their donor if they wish to.

Altruistic donors in particular are very rare people. These are men and women who donate their sperm and eggs simply to help others to have a family. Obviously the improved compensation rates of £750 per cycle for egg donors and £35 a visit for sperm donors now go some way to recognising this unique gift, but how many people do you know who would do all of the things necessary to be a donor just to help someone else?

So it’s good to see that the HFEA is focusing on the importance of the care given to donors at clinics across the UK. It’s something we already do at Manchester Fertility Services and will continue to do as donor enquiries rise.

If you’ve ever thought about being a sperm or egg donor remember you can always chat to us in confidence on 0161 227 0010 or visit our FAQs page to find out what’s involved. You can also apply online here.

We’ve been inundated with enquiries from women considering donating their eggs since the new compensation came into effect from 1 April.

If you’re one of the many women considering it, you may be wondering whether becoming an egg donor can affect your own fertility. This may especially be the case if you’re within the right age group – 35 and under – and if you may either not have had children yet, or already have children but may be considering adding to your family.

Now a new study from Belgium which has looked into the effect of egg donation seems to show that it doesn’t affect your chances of becoming pregnant in the years following the procedure.

The results showed that out of a group of 60 women who had all donated eggs when they were around 30 years old, 57 of them conceived naturally in the four to five year period following donation. And out of the remaining three, two had sought help because of their partner’s fertility problem.

Although it’s only a small study, it may go some way to alleviating concerns that artificially stimulating the ovaries to produce more mature eggs – as is necessary when donating eggs – may negatively affect your own fertility. However, this study has only looked at short-term fertility and experts say more research is now needed to look at the longer-term effects of egg donation.

Of course there are other risks to consider when it comes to egg donation. These include the risk of a condition called Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) which is when the ovaries over-respond to the necessary drugs and produce too many eggs.

At Manchester Fertility Services however all patients who undergo ovarian stimulation – whether for egg donation or other treatment such as IVF or egg-freezing – are very closely monitored to ensure this risk is minimised.

If you have any concerns about egg donation or wish to find out more about what is involved, please contact us today on 0161 227 0010 or visit our FAQs page.

Since the new compensation rate began on 1 April for both egg and sperm donors, we’ve had over 100 enquiries from women wanting to be egg donors.

This is promising news of course, it’s exactly what the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority hoped for when they reviewed the compensation after a lengthy public consultation. Now, if you’re accepted as a registered egg donor, you will receive £750 per cycle plus receipted expenses, such as your travel for attending the necessary appointments here. Sperm donors likewise now receive £35 per visit, plus receipted expenses.

What’s important to remember however is that not all women who apply will be accepted as an egg donor. If you’re thinking of applying, please bear the following in mind:

- Egg donors need to be aged 35 and under – this is because the success rates from women in this age group are higher and natural fertility and egg quality generally declines once you pass this age

- You need to have a clear medical history with no genetic or hereditary disorders or problems in your family

- You need to be willing to attend regular clinic appointments, including counselling to ensure you fully understand the implications of donating your eggs

- You need to have no previous history of poor response to ovarian stimulation

- You need to consent that any child born from your eggs can find out about you, if they wish to, when they turn 18. This follows a change in the law which gave donor-conceived children the right to find out about their background

Being an egg donor has huge rewards and given the long waiting lists in the UK for donor eggs, the fact that we’ve seen so many women come forward in less than two weeks is fantastic. But due to the stringent criteria applied to become a HFEA-registered donor, not all women will pass the screening – and as such this ‘boom’ in donors will actually only result in a relatively small number of accepted egg donors.

It’s why we always need more egg and sperm donors. Because simply not everyone can be a donor. It’s not as simple as just donating your eggs or sperm, not everyone has the right medical history, or indeed egg quality due to their age.

If you wish to be considered as an egg donor, visit our FAQs page to find out more or call us on 0161 227 0010. You can apply online here.

In the wake of this week’s rise in compensation for egg and sperm donors, the media were saying there has been – and predicting there would be – a huge rise in the number of women coming forward to be egg donors.

This is because the compensation rate has tripled from £250 to £750 per cycle for egg donors, and in the current financial climate it seems this may be a tempting way to ‘earn’ extra money – hence why more women have, apparently, already been flocking to clinics to donate.

But before we all start saying it’s ‘exploiting’ women who need money in desperate financial times, what is important to remember is that not every woman who applies will automatically become an egg donor.

Firstly, there are criteria to meet – such as being aged 35 and under, with a clear medical history – and counselling sessions to attend which all potential donors must do to ensure they fully appreciate and understand the implications of being a donor. This includes the fact that any children born from your eggs have the right to find out who you are when they turn 18.

This lack of anonymity for donors when it comes to the children they help to be born, plus the sheer time and commitment needed – including travelling to the clinic for regular appointments – will often be enough to deter those women for whom the only motivation is money. After all, £750 is not a life-changing sum.

If the media however is indeed right then it’s a promising start, and if more women are accepted as donors this could now be the beginning of the end of the long waiting lists we have in the UK for people who need to use donor eggs to have a baby.

To find out more about being an egg donor, click here.

You may have read our recent blog about known sperm donation, and once again it’s come into the spotlight with a case in the Netherlands where a father is donating sperm to his son and daughter in law to enable them to have a child, because the son wasn’t producing any sperm.

As the couple wanted to ensure any child born shared the same genes, using donor sperm – one of the recommended treatments in this case – was out of the question. And as the son had no brother to ask to be a donor, his own father was the next logical choice. So although it’s unconventional, the resulting child will maintain a biological link with the family.

Thankfully in this case, everyone involved went through the proper channels, going to a fertility clinic with their request which – after consideration by an ethics committee – was approved. But what’s going to happen when the child is born? As many have pointed out, the child’s father will actually be his ‘half brother’, and his grandfather will actually be his biological father.

How this is communicated and handled as the child is growing up is something no doubt everyone has already considered. And yet again this is why counselling is so important. All those involved here will have had to go through careful and thorough counselling to ensure everyone completely understands their role. From what has been reported in the journal Human Reproduction about this case, it seems all those involved reached the decision in full agreement.

Donations of this type are not particularly common, but it does happen and it’s certainly increasing. Donating sperm or eggs to a relative is legal, but when close relatives are involved – for example father to daughter or brother to sister – this wouldn’t be allowed because of genetic risks to any resulting child.

Following an extensive HFEA consultation on family donation, the organisation is currently working on producing best practice guidelines for clinics to use when presented with requests between family members. Many fertility clinics – including here at Manchester Fertility Services – already have good practice policies in place to ensure everyone involved understands the potential consequences, both for themselves and any child born.

For more information, you can visit the HFEA’s page on family donation here.

From 1 April if you decide to become a sperm or egg donor you’ll get more money as compensation for the time and effort you give to help someone else have a child.

Egg donors will receive £750 per cycle, whilst sperm donors will get £35 for each visit made to donate – both these new rates include any expenses.

So will this new amount of money be your motivation to become a donor? Previous surveys we’ve conducted on this website and our manchesterfertility.com site showed that almost half of our 552 respondents said they’d only consider being a donor if they got paid for it – which is currently the system in places like America, where donors can be paid thousands of dollars for their eggs or sperm.

So is £750 enough to make you think about donating your eggs? Or £35 a go enough to make you think about being a sperm donor? Probably not – and this is where the HFEA has been very careful.

Because if the amount had been set a lot higher than the new sums, perhaps money would have been a motivating factor. And then you are walking on dangerous ground – young women and men who wouldn’t otherwise donate offering eggs and sperm purely to get cash.

Don’t forget in places like America, sperm and egg donation is still anonymous. But here, if you become a donor you have to agree that any children born from your donation can find out about you, if they wish to, when they turn 18. You’re still anonymous to the parents – it’s only the child who can apply for your information.

So donating is a much more considered process in the UK, it’s not something people do lightly. And it will remain so, despite these increases in payments which quite rightly compensate the many sperm and egg donors who selflessly give to offer someone else the hope of a child.

£750 is not enough to make a woman donate who otherwise wouldn’t, and neither is £35 per sperm sample. Donating should always be about that wish to help others, indeed all of our sperm and egg donors tell us that money was never even a factor.

So if money isn’t the real issue, what would it take for you to become a sperm or egg donor? Find out by visiting our FAQs pages to find out more about what’s involved.

In America choosing a sperm donor is as simple as flicking through a catalogue. Photographs, biographies, personal details, even educational information – it’s all there so you can choose the traits you want your baby’s donor to have.

But it’s different in the UK. We have already removed a donors right to anonymity so donor-conceived children can find out about their biological background, and even get in touch with their donor if they wish, but how exactly do people decide they want you as their donor?

Once your sperm has been cleared for use as donor sperm, it is stored by us. When a person wants to use donor sperm for whatever reason, we try to match their physical characteristics with yours.

So for a couple, they may want a donor who has a similar height and colour hair as either of themselves. A single woman may wish to have a donor who matches the characteristics of her ‘ideal’ partner.

Where we can we offer recipients a choice of donors. They can find out very basic information – your height, hair colour, eye colour for instance – and read your short bio about yourself, which all sperm donors are encouraged to write, so they know a little bit about you and your personality.

But it’s important to remember that they are never able to find out your identity or look at a photograph of you. You are still anonymous to them – it is only a donor-conceived child who can find out who you are.

Because people naturally want to choose a sperm donor who shares their own physical characteristics, it’s often a difficult choice when there simply is no donor who fits the bill – usually when recipients have a specific ethnic background. We do have a shortage of ethnic sperm donors and as such as always welcome enquiries from men from ethnic communities.

To find out more about what being a sperm donor involves, visit our FAQs page or get in touch with us in confidence today.