In some situation there may be a need to rely on sperm from a sperm donor rather than from the male partner. This situation include cases than no sperm can be found following surgical sperm retrieval on in rare cases when sperm form the male partner an incapable of fertilizing eggs (even when injected using ICSI) or in rare cases when the male partner`s sperm may fertilized eggs but cannot create embryos with appropriate development or appropriate chromosome numbers.

Frozen sperm samples from international sperm banks are safe, and they can be chosen by matching  the donor’s  features to your partner’s or to those that you desire, such as stature (height and weight), color of eyes and hair, and by education background and blood group.

How are Sperm Donors Selected?

Donors undergo a complex and multiphase process covering both medical (general medical, urologic, genetic) and psychological examinations.  All donor sperm samples are frozen and quarantine (not used) for at least 6 months. After the quarantine period, the donor undergoes further testing to assure that he is free of infectious diseases. Diseases that could be transmitted to you or your child include: AIDS, syphilis, and hepatitis, because these diseases are reliably identifiable only months after exposure. Minimization of risks of transmitting infectious diseases is one of the main reasons why donors are examined/tested repeatedly. In addition, According to international law, the number of pregnancies achieved with the help of one given donor is limited in order to minimize the chances that the resulting babies from any donor will meet, marry and suffer the consequences of close-kin marriages.

Consequently, international sperm banks scrupulously register/document pregnancies achieved with their samples and, after a certain period, cooperation with donors is terminated.