Using Donor Sperm as a Same Sex Couple

Using Donor Sperm
as a Same Sex Couple
tasivf.com.au | T 6224 1808
TasIVF is an experienced fertility
clinic providing a comprehensive
and supportive donor program
to assist couples in a same sex
relationship to start their family.
TasIVF has extensive experience in helping create families through
our donor program. We are experienced at supporting people wanting
to become parents. We counsel our donors very carefully about the
long-term implications of their donation because, at the heart of our
program, there is a focus on your child’s future health and wellbeing.
We provide treatment with either known or clinic recruited sperm
donors. Any donors used at TasIVF will have undergone thorough
medical assessment and extended counselling (including the donors’
partners) to consider the long-term implications of being a sperm
donor. We are extremely careful about who we accept as sperm
donors in our program as not every potential donor will meet our strict
medical and psychological criteria.
We regard the interests of your future child as paramount. In the past,
truly anonymous sperm donation was undertaken and we now know
from the experience of the children conceived that this is not in the
best interests of the child. Many children conceived from previous
anonymous sperm donation programs experienced a deep sense of
loss as a consequence of being unable to access any information
about their biological father. It is critical to us that everyone involved
in a donor conceived family is as completely prepared as possible.
Today we work hard to ensure our donors comply with the very strict
limit of only creating 9 families worldwide (5 families in Tasmania
and 5 outside of Tasmania), in addition to their own, to ensure there
is no chance of a consanguineous relationship between siblings.
All sperm donors are now required to make their identity available
to the children conceived from the sperm donation when they reach
18 years of age. The donor must also give written informed consent
to his name being included on a Donor Registry held at TasIVF. This
ensures that the donors’ identities are recorded and are only able to
help create 10 families (their own plus 9 others).
Supporting same sex couples
Many same-sex couples wish to use one donor to have their family
and at TasIVF we are very happy to assist you in both using the same
donor if you wish.
We understand that usually both partners do not plan to undergo
treatment at the same time. It is, however, important that you both
join the program together and can have the opportunity to choose
one donor that is suitable for both of you, if that is your wish.
Why is there a waitlist for donor sperm?
Sperm donation is an altruistic gift. Other than legitimate expenses
incurred in making the donation, there is no financial payment to
sperm donors and our donors donate sperm simply to help others
have their family. The implications of being a sperm donor are,
however, complex and this can make it difficult for us to find enough
donors to meet the growing demand.
For these reasons our sperm donor wait list varies in length from time
to time and it is best that you talk with our donor team to understand
the possible length it may take to access donor sperm for the
treatment that is right for you.
Which treatment is best?
Many couples that attend our clinics do not have any fertility problems
and wish to access the mildest most natural form of fertility treatment.
This treatment is called an intrauterine insemination, IUI for short.
An IUI procedure is very simple and following the monitoring of your
cycle with some blood and ultrasound tests the sperm is placed in
the uterus via a small tube just prior to ovulation. Sometimes, fertility
drugs may be used to stimulate release of more than one egg to
increase chance of pregnancy in the lead up to ovulation. The actual
treatment itself takes about 5-10 minutes. While the success rate is
better than natural conception an average 30 year old could expect a
20% chance of pregnancy after one IUI treatment.
Unfortunately, sperm quality and quantity varies amongst donors
and not all sperm can be used for an IUI procedure. As a result only
the best sperm is suitable for an IUI procedure. At present we have a
limited number of donors suitable for IUI treatment and many people
waiting.
If the waiting time is a significant issue then you may like to consider
alternatives such as using IVF to conceive where there is a higher
success rate or each partner could choose to use a different donor.
There are more donors available that are suitable for IVF so it will be
easier to access the same donor.
IVF is a treatment where higher doses of fertility medications are used
to cause a larger number of eggs to grow (usually 5-10). These eggs
are collected from your body and joined with the donated sperm in
the laboratory via intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) where an
individual sperm is injected directly in to the egg. This increases the
chance of fertilisation and enables the development of an embryo
for 3-5 days in the laboratory before being transferred back to the
woman. The embryo transfer is undertaken in our clinic and is
normally a simple procedure taking 10-15minutes.
While IVF is a more intense and more expensive form of treatment
it carries a significantly higher pregnancy rate than artificial
insemination (IUI). An average 30 year old could expect up to
a 40-50% chance of pregnancy success following an IVF (ICSI)
treatment cycle.
How do we choose our donor?
Once you have undergone the compulsory counselling and are ready
to select a donor you will be given access to the TasIVF donor profiles
Our donors are based in either Australia or the US. Because of the
higher expenses involved in recruiting an American donor, the access
charge per donor is also higher. The arrangements for storing sperm
for future children are also different between Australian and US
donors.
However, apart from this there is little difference in the donors and
you should choose the donor whose profile is most consistent with
your needs.
Costs
Medicare will only provide a rebate for fertility treatment if there is
a medical problem present. It is recommended that you consult a
fertility specialist for full investigation to understand if you are eligible
for a rebate and to understand the fertility treatment costs (either IUI or
IVF/ICSI).
Details of the costs for different types of fertility treatment are
available on our website tasivf.com.au
In addition to the costs of fertility treatments, there are expenses
involved in the preparation of sperm donors.
If you are using your own, known sperm donor, the expenses for
preparing your donor includes counselling for the donor, sperm
testing, genetic testing, freezing of the first donation and storage of
the donation for the first six months.
If you are using de-identified sperm provided by us, you will be
charged an access charge, to cover the expenses involved in
preparing the donor, each time you access that donor’s sperm. The
access fee is higher for an American donor than for an Australian
donor. Please ask our Donor Coordinator for details on 03 6224
1808.
Why should I go through a professional
fertility clinic rather than doing it myself?
There is no reason why you cannot proceed with self-insemination.
However, in making your decision, you should consider the following.
• Infection risk of the donation: At TasIVF, we protect your safety
by ensuring that all sperm donors are thoroughly screened and
quarantined before being released for treatment
• S ecurity of the identification and records. At TasIVF, we ensure
that all donations are carefully recorded and that all donors are
counselled about the long term implications of future contact.
This allows you be certain about the information and access
that your child will have, if they request it, to their biological
antecedents.
If you have any questions please contact the Donor coordinator on
03 6224 1808. TasIVF is here to support you and your family with
counselling and advice about all the issues that may lie ahead
TasIVF
Leading minds dedicated to your success
Level 2
St Helen’s Private Hospital
186 Macquarie St Hobart TAS 7000
TAS-COMM-PI-206 | 10JULY2015
T 03 6224 1808 F 03 6223 4996