Whether male factor infertility is an issue, or you are a single-mom-by-choice, choosing the right sperm donor may be more challenging than you think. It’s not easy perusing tens of thousands of profiles, and you’ll have trouble emerging from the rabbit hole if you go that route.
Tips to Find a Great Sperm Donor in a Single Afternoon
That’s why we’ve put together this quick “field guide” for choosing a sperm donor; if you honor these core fundamentals, you’ll have your ideal sperm donor selected in a matter of hours.
Choose a reputable sperm bank
In most cases, you’ll be working with a fertility clinic to facilitate the IUI or ICSI process. If that’s the case, heed their advice and work with their recommended sperm banks. Fertility clinics are selective about the cryobanks they work with because their fertility treatment success rates are dependent on high-quality sperm; thus, their vetted sperm banks are a more solid bet.
Feel free to contact us here at Overlake and we’ll be happy to refer you to banks our patients have used successfully in the past.
Use the donor match tool from the get-go
You want to hone your search as quickly as possible – because you’ll still have dozens upon dozens of sperm donor profiles to sort through (there’s actually hundreds – if not thousands – at most sperm banks). Start using the donor match tool from the get-go so you immediately eliminate profiles that don’t match major preferences when it comes to:
- Ethnicity/culture
- Religious background/beliefs
- Skin tone
Think in terms of your genetics
We have only to look to our own families to know that genetics can create a wide spectrum of phenotypes (the way we look) and personality traits. That being said, genetics are a powerful force, so it’s good to think in terms of the things your partner is good at, enjoys or is interested in – and then match those same things in the donor criteria.
Further honing the donor match search tools, you’ll be able to whittle profiles down further in terms of:
- Age
- Height/weight/hair color/eye color
- Education level
- Talents
- Hobbies
- Interests
- Languages spoken
- Musical instrument(s) played
- Psychological traits like sense of humor, sensitive, etc.
There are never any guarantees, but by inputting someone who shares a large cross section of traits as your partner can help you feel like the sperm being selected is as much like him as possible.
Use photo matching features
Some sperm banks (like the Seattle Sperm Bank) offer photo-matching features. Their staff will take the photos from some of the profiles you preferred, as well as pictures of your partner (or someone you’d like the child to resemble) and get to work. Using the photos you’ve provided as a foundation, they’ll cull through the donor bank and find profiles that are similar.
Once they’ve assembled a small group of them, they’ll send them to you so you can spend more time searching through more probable, high-quality matches.
Take advantage of genetic matching services
Genetic matching is another incredible service available due to modern medical innovation. All the sperm donor samples are screened for the most common genetic abnormalities to minimize the chances of an embryo having a particular disease or condition. However, genetic testing also makes it possible to find a sperm donor who is the closest match to your partner’s genetic make-up.
This service costs a bit extra, but if a close genetic match is important to you, it will be well worth the investment.
Having trouble navigating the sperm donor arena? Schedule a consultation with Overlake and our staff will refer you to some of the most reputable sperm banks in our area and across the nation.