# Is there such a thing as getting sperm delivered to your home?



## Strawbs78

I am contemplating the option of doing it at home but dont want a known donor, I know they have it in the US but do they have a service where fresh or frozen swimmers get delivered to you at home in the UK? Im struggling to find any info on it..

Thanks

J x


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## lesbo_mum

there is fertility 1st...

dont have time to give you more info now but take a look.... i used them twice and have lots of friends who used them no problem and now have babies from it.

Beware they have a lot of bad publicity thou.


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## Pinktink

They have bad publicity for a reason - they are completely unregulated and illegal.

I know it works for some people but I just don't understand why anyone would take this kind of risk. Each to their own I guess  

L x


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## Strawbs78

hi pinktink

what risk is there? I just had a look at the website and it looks ok to me but I'd be def interested to hear any views on the company as dont kow anything about them.. thanks!! x


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## lmb15

strawbs - when someone gets screened for STI's, all it tells you is that they don't have any infections at that point in time. If they have unprotected sex after that, then you haven't got a clue what they may/may not have. Also, you should wait for 2 weeks after unprotected sex (or even sex with condoms - they're not 100% by any means) to get screened, because it can take  2 weeks for things like chlamydia/gonorrhoea to show up on tests. So if they get tested before that, the results may come back as negative, when in actual fact they do have something.
Then the biggy - HIV. It takes 3 months to fully show up on a blood test. So if they get tested, what you need is for them not to have sex for 3 months and get tested again to make sure they really are negative for HIV.
All of the above is why, at clinics, the sperm is quarantined for 6 months, until the donor's been 100% confirmed not to have hiv/hepatitis etc - that way they know that the sperm was definitely free from diseases when it was collected, and is safe to use.

The whole not knowing for sure, and essentially taking a gamble on using sperm from someone when you don't know if they are/aren't clean or not, is why we chose a clinic. It's a personal choice though.

Sorry if that post sounded pessimistic!!!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Lisa x


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## Strawbs78

thanks guys really appreciate everyone's responses - very helpful xoxo


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## M2M

I don't believe there's any way of having sperm shipped from a regulated clinic (where you're 100% sure that it's been tested and is safe to use) to your home. As far as I'm aware, sperm shipped from the US and Europe is shipped in a cryogenic container and is suitable for clinic IUI only, not for home defrosting and self-insemination.

I believe that in America it's possible to buy sperm from a clinic and have it shipped to your home - or at least Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone would have me believe it's possible  - but I'm not sure if this applies to international orders. I've certainly not come across anything like that as that's something DP and I would've considered.

I personally wouldn't be keen on using an unregulated site like Fertility First but it's a personal decision.


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## pem

Right now I wish i lived in the States.......

The L word would have you blv this is true also.....

i also wouldn't go the Fertility First route....even though right now i am really really desperate


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## M2M

Oh yes The L Word, how could I forget!  They had a lovely donor didn't they? For some reason it seemed a lot more wholesome when they did it, though they did meet the donor... not sure how they went about it in the end but I remember them propositioning men at a party at one point.


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## Pinktink

Back in the day when we were doing research we wanted to do home inseminations but with clean checked sperm and we found that it isn't legal in the uk to do this unfortunately as some genius somewhere decided it was wrong! You can only import sperm to be delivered to a registered clinic so getting it from elsewhere isn't really an option.

I know you take some risk with known donors but you get to meet them and make a calculated decision of whether you trust them or not but with unregulated Annonymous places like ff you don't know if you can trust the screening process in my opinion.

Like I said this is just my view and not a judgement on anyone who chooses this path - we considered the risks weren't worth it for us.

Xx 

Ps bette and tina knew their donor but he donated at a clinic and they stored it till they were ready... I love the l word lol


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## Hales :)

We imported from a Xytex in the US, and they definitely would only import to a licensed clinic


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## welshginge

The real L Word is starting in the US soon (reality tv with lesbians) so I will be downloading it! I love the L Word too, esp when Dana gets squirted with sperm hahaha.


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## lmb15

And there's a British take on the L word starting soon on BBC three too. It's called Lip Service and is about a group of Lesbians in Glasgow I think. Not sure how it will compare!


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## pem

How exciting.......2 new lezza shows....

trying to remember when Dana got squirted with sperm.........out comes the boxsets...lol


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## NatGamble

Here's the legal perspective on this:

Since 1991, it's been illegal in the UK to transport or store frozen sperm unless you have an HFEA licence or ship to a clinic with an HFEA licence.  That's why foreign sperm banks will only ship to licensed clinics in the UK.  They do so in regulated circumstances with cryotanks etc, and under regulation from the HFEA.  UK clinics are not generally permitted to send sperm for self insemination at home.

There was previously a gap in the law - in that the regulation did not apply if you only dealt with fresh sperm - and this led to the emergence of certain online companies who supplied fresh sperm to recipients at home.  However, the gap in the law was closed in (I think) July 2007 by some EU regulations.  Since then, it has also been illegal to 'procure' (which means distribute or transport or make available) fresh sperm for donation, as well as frozen sperm.

So the nutshell is that any organisation offering delivery of donor sperm to you at home is almost certainly unlicensed and operating illegally (I understand that Fertiilty1st are currently being prosecuted).  I would strongly endorse what others have said about safety issues.  As an additional problem, the donor won't get the normal legal protection he would receive as a sperm donor, and may well end up being your child's legal father with legal and financial responsibility.

Hope that helps clarify.

Natalie


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## Strawbs78

that's great thank you so much..

J x


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## cherrycherry

NatGamble said:


> Here's the legal perspective on this:
> 
> Since 1991, it's been illegal in the UK to transport or store frozen sperm unless you have an HFEA licence or ship to a clinic with an HFEA licence. That's why foreign sperm banks will only ship to licensed clinics in the UK. They do so in regulated circumstances with cryotanks etc, and under regulation from the HFEA. UK clinics are not generally permitted to send sperm for self insemination at home.
> 
> There was previously a gap in the law - in that the regulation did not apply if you only dealt with fresh sperm - and this led to the emergence of certain online companies who supplied fresh sperm to recipients at home. However, the gap in the law was closed in (I think) July 2007 by some EU regulations. Since then, it has also been illegal to 'procure' (which means distribute or transport or make available) fresh sperm for donation, as well as frozen sperm.
> 
> So the nutshell is that any organisation offering delivery of donor sperm to you at home is almost certainly unlicensed and operating illegally (I understand that Fertiilty1st are currently being prosecuted). I would strongly endorse what others have said about safety issues. As an additional problem, the donor won't get the normal legal protection he would receive as a sperm donor, and may well end up being your child's legal father with legal and financial responsibility.
> 
> Hope that helps clarify.
> 
> Natalie


Natalie, the Cryos bank are now saying they deliver frozen sperm to UK customers at their home:

http://dk.cryosinternational.com/private-customers/home-insemination.aspx That bank is a well-established popular bank for many years, with as far as I'm aware nothing dodgy about it.

/links


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## LucyandSuz

Hi,
I'm quite new to here and really unsure in the law. My partner and I are looking to conceive with ds and have been looking at cryos in Denmark. It does state on their web site that they deliver to uk private addresses however after doing some research I thought this may be illegal here. I e-mailed them to query it and today they sent me an e-mail saying they have an eu licence to export and sent me this link.

http://dk.cryosinternational.com/media/16705/eu%20tissue%20licence%202007.pdf

I really don't know what to make of it, i am trying to convert it to English so I can understand what it says. I really hope it is cosha, it just seems too good to be true.

LucyandSuz

/links


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## Candy76

LucyandSuz, we had a look at the website. Did you see the English part with the FAQ section that answered this?

Personally, I think that there might not be a law about it because the lawmaker forgot to mention this bit. Not that I am educated in law, just my thought.

And we found the costs of IUI suitable sperm plus the delivery costs was quite high. Well, we were looking at ID release sperm, which tends to be more expensive than unknown. I suppose it depends what you prefer.
You can pick the stuff up or have it delivered nearby. How about planning a couple of holidays in Danemark?


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## sass30

Cyros clinic in denmark are a sperm bank and  they ship to your home adress. If u go on there website and take a look u can see donors  ect in there. We nearly used tem and do AI but we went with IUI instead. Good lick peral 

Sarah x


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## motos

Seems clear to me from the Cryos website that they think that what they're doing is legal, but that it's at your own risk - ie they think that it follows the letter of the law, but they know it doesn't follow the spirit. It could be worth a try, if someone's very keen, but it definitely doesn't seem entirely kosher.


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## ♥JJ1♥

Here's Natalie's legal view of it
http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=292567.0


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## sibbnchaz29

Hey there, have you looked at worldwidespermdonation.com i think it is.....you create a profile and pick a donor...you will arrange with the donor when he can produce and then you inseminate....i know a couple who used that site and have a beautiful baby boy x

not a route we would go down to be honest but may be some peoples choice xx good luck x


/links


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