Sperm Donation

Sperm donation is the practice commonly used when the male partner in a relationship is unable to contribute towards conception, either due to infertility or carrying a genetic disease. The practice involves a man giving or more commonly selling his semen to be used with the specific intent of producing a baby. A man who donates sperm usually does so at a medical center called a sperm bank. Donor sperm is also used when a single woman not wanting a male partner or a lesbian pair chooses to have a baby.

Sperm donation is a 3 step process.

1. Eligibility: To qualify as a donor, a man must generally meet specific requirements regarding age and medical history, as prescribed by sperm banks or regulatory bodies like the FDA. Most sperm donors are young, physically fit men between the ages of 18-25 who donate for the financial incentive.
2. Legalities: The sperm donor and recipient sign a contract binding the donor to sell his sperm and to be called upon to donate for a specified contractual minimum period of time (between 6 to 24 months). Sperm donor and recipient are anonymous to each other and yet, a recipient may receive details about the donor such as height, weight, physical characteristics, education and other details that do not reveal the identity of the donor.
3. Donation: A man donates sperm at a sperm bank or tissue clinic by way of masturbation. Pornography may be used to assist the donor in reaching orgasm.

Donors are constantly tested and monitored and all sperm is stored for a minimum of 6 months without being released for sale to ensure that the donor is healthy. Donors are subject to tests for diseases, immuno-viruses and genetic disorders.

Sperm banks and regulatory authorities invest their best efforts to limit the number of offspring from a single man. This is done keeping in mind the psychological implications of multiple donations. As they age, donors risk becoming concerned and curious to know about their offspring, resulting from their donations. This also works the other way around where people born by sperm donation are very interested in knowing more about their biological fathers and paternal family.

Still, some donors are known to donate at several different sperm banks. With the advent of the internet, donors can now also donate sperm privately online. The concern about any man fathering so many children is twofold. That uncommon, recessive, disease or disorder causing genes will transmit into future generations and that there might be unrealized hereditary transfers. Fortunately, this is an unconfirmed and highly unlikely claim. Experience from sperm banks and studies have shown no risk of genetic mutations. Sperm banks extensively track births, single donation frequency, unsuccessful inseminations and the geographical spread of any donor sperm.

Another type of donors that are common in the practice are men who donate unselfishly (at no cost) on a private basis to females, often lesbians and single women for the purpose of achieving pregnancy through artificial insemination. Referred to as 'known sperm donation', such informal arrangements are becoming popular because of lower costs, cheaper methods and the possibility of shared responsibility.

Donor conceived people may never learn of their true birth source as information about their true biological father is not recorded anywhere other than sperm banks, which have strict confidentiality rules. This is compounded by the fact that only a small proportion (approx. 10%) of donor conceived people will ever be informed of the nature of their conception by the recipient parent(s). Donor conceived people may have many half siblings as a result of the same person's donations. In certain countries, the law gives rights to people conceived through sperm donation to access different levels of information about their biological father. In some more progressive countries, the donor's identity may be released to children of the recipient, mostly at the age of majority.

The cost of donor sperm in the United States ranges from around $200 to $3,000 per vial unit of semen, usually a quantity of around 0.7 ml.