# checks on sperm donations



## amcs (Mar 8, 2008)

Hi,
Can anyone tell me what checks clinics do on sperm donations? do they check for hereditary diseases or is it a simple questionnaire and hope they are telling the truth??
I dont really know much about the donation process, all advice would be good.
Thanks
A.x


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## motos (Mar 14, 2008)

I don't really have an answer but didn't want to leave your post unanswered .... and I do have an educated guess! I know that they do some blood tests - which obviously cover HIV etc but presumably might also cover some issues such as liver function, thyroid levels, blood sugar, aneamia (sp?) .... On the other hand, I'm sure that there are things that you would want to know about in their family history that can't necessarily be tested for, eg family history of cancer - there are one or two identified genes for certain forms, but plenty that couldn't be tested for. So they must also rely on honesty in telling family medical history. You can see the questionnaires that they use at the European Sperm Bank online, but I don't know how these compare to elsewhere.


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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

You would have to ask the clinic or HFEA, but when my known donor donated for me via a clinic he had to conform to the same standards and tests that the anonymous donors to the clinic do as a HFEA rule - he had blood tests, full sexual health screen, some hereditary diseases screened for I believe like CF etc, he had chromosomes analysed and a health questionnaire about him and his family history. Can you believe in this day and age not all clinics accept gay men as sperm donors? and they are all asked about their sexual relations with other men.

Have a look at the various clinics and see their criteria for donors like this in manchester
http://www.manchesterfertility.com/donors/2/
Good luck
L x


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## mintyfaglady (Aug 25, 2007)

I don't know for a fact, but I bet they don't actually test for genetic markers of hereditary diseases. This type of testing is done for PGD (pre-implantation diagnosis) and it's expensive. 

I suspect that anyone indicating a history of such diseases would be screened out and simply not accepted as a donor. Most of the testing will be to make sure they don't pass on anything infectious to the recipient, and to make sure that the sperm itself is properly formed and swimming.

If you are bringing your own donor "to the table" you could get any test you want done, providing you paid, I suppose.

Minty
xxx


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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

Yes I had to pay for the additonal chromosome tests they reconmmended for him it cost about 1400 pounds for all his screening tests blood and sperm.
L x


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## GlobalTraveller (Oct 17, 2006)

Hello, I hope it's ok for me to post on here, I was just being nosey and reading through the posts.  When I donated they did a check for cystic fibrosis gene and I did a medical questionnaire and was "inspected" by a doctor at the clinic for any signs of STD's and they did a basic medical checkup, they also did blood and urine checks at the time and then 6 months later.  

They ask for your GPs contact details as well as a form giving them permission to get medical history but my doctor has never mentioned anything to me about the clinic contacting her.

I gave them my family medical history which isn't that great (several early deaths of grandparents on both sides of the family) and they didn't seem to be too worried.  I think they were pretty keen for donors and would accept anyone who was reasonably healthy.  

When I first went in there and filled in the forms they had a checklist of genetic problems like haemophillia and others that I had not heard of and the nurse said "Well if you havn't heard of them then your familiy won't have them"  meaning that they were so serious that you couldn't not be aware of them.  Not sure if this helps or not.

Cheers,
GT.


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## NatGamble (Mar 1, 2007)

Hiya

I've just checked the actual rules on this for you, and the HFEA requires clinics to check all donor sperm in accordance with the guidance issued by the British Andrology Society. See http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/14/7/1823 for what that covers.

Natalie


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