Sperm Donation FAQs: Answering Your Questions About the Process

What kind of testing is done?

During the application process there is some screening and testing that is performed to be accepted into the program. Then as an active donor, we’ll continue to routinely test for infectious disease.

The screening and testing include:

HIV
Hepatitis B&C
Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
West Nile Virus
Genetic Carrier Screening
Physicals

Something that is frequently asked about is drug testing. We do not perform drug testing on our donors. However, drug use (both recreational and prescription) can impact semen quality. Each donated sample is analyzed for count and motility, if it is not high-quality samples cannot be used in future treatments. This can impact your acceptance into the program.

Is there financial compensation for being a sperm donor?

Donors are compensated at $100 per donation. This is broken down into 2 payments. The first $70 is after analysis and the second $30, is after infectious disease testing comes back. Samples must be cleared for treatment use to receive the full $100.

Other benefits to being in the donor program include:

Health screenings
STI testing
Genetic Carrier Screening
Helping make a difference as a tissue donor

Do I have to be a certain height?

There are no height requirements for donors. We have families that are looking for donors of all characteristics when they are looking for a donor.

What information is shared with the families?

A basic profile is created and shared with families. There is no identifying information linked to you personally. But we’ll include baby photos that you submit to us, and an adult photo if you are comfortable with that as well. We will talk about your hobbies, your medical history, and fun facts about your life.

Donors at Bellevue Sperm Bank agree to becoming Open ID. This means that any donor conceived children can request a one-time contact with their donor when they reach the age of 18. This contact can be a phone call, video chat, email, or letter. It depends on what all parties are comfortable with. Until the proper time and request is made, no information is shared between donors and recipient families.

Who will receive my samples?

The people looking to use donor sperm include people with infertility who do not make sperm, and others who are in a partnership that does not include a partner who makes sperm, or someone who is becoming a single parent by choice. Families come from all different backgrounds and can be from all over the world. This is why it is important for different men to join the program to give everyone options to growing their family.