# Importing Sperm - advice on options



## Jeanette2 (Dec 5, 2007)

I've just made some preliminary enquiries about importing sperm from the US donor sperm bank Xytex for IUI treatment and was quite taken aback at how expensive it was:
cost of sperm - around £500, import license - approx £750, transport costs - approx £900 and that's all on top of the IUI treatment which is about £1000
Does anyone know of any other much cheaper, reliable donor banks to import from where you can get photos and more background detail on the donor?

Many thanks 
Jeanette


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## pippa38h (Jun 27, 2008)

Hi Jeanette
Try http://www.europeanspermbank.com - they seem to be cheaper and very good at emailing- they also have a good list to choose from which they will send you. Denmark based so lots of blue eyes.
Good luck

Pippa

/links


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## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

Hi - I used the european sperm bank, costs for IUI sperm are about £260 per straw, import fees approx £220 and then there's the £1000 fee for the pregnancy slot.  If you go online and pay the extra fee you can get access to thier profiles.  I was very happy with the service I received - havne't had a chance to use the sperm yet - hopefully soon though!  I emailed the clinic direct and asked for an up to date list of UK only donors...
All the best
R x x


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## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

Jeanette,
A straw is a vial of sperm - the pregnancy slot is an extra cost on top!!!  Basically each donor is only allowed 10 births, therefore the £1000 secures your slot with him if you get what I mean... you're paying to be one of his 10 up front.  Its all to do with HFEA guidelines etc.
Di has found though that if you get your treatment done in Czech and import the sperm there you'll not have to pay for the pregnancy slot.  
Hope that helps and I've not confused you - I know I was totally confused to begin with...
Take care
x


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## Elpida (Feb 11, 2008)

Another cost to keep in mind is the admin cost of the importing clinic. Mine said they would charge up to £1000 ... I imagine it varies massively and I think part of the reason that it was so high was that it's not something that they do often so is very time consuming.


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## Sima (Aug 10, 2008)

Hi Jeanette

Thanks for posting this question.  I too am thinking about importing sperm from Xytex.  It does seem as though you get far more information on the donors than in the UK which is always handy to have.  I didn't realise it was going to cost so much!  I guess I hadn't factored in the import fee or the pregnancy slot.  So I guess this means if you were to change donors for whatever reason as you go through the treatment then you would be liable for another pregnancy fee.  Ouch.

S


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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Jeanette,

Unfortunately I don't think any of the UK clinics will go beyond the basic information: height, build, colouring (hair, eyes, skin colour), occupation, hobbies, religion, and blood type....never heard of anywhere that offers pictures etc. 

I personally feel almost more comfortable with less information at this stage. I definitely want an ID release donor (which is why if I end up at Reprofit in Czech I will try to import from european sperm bank to get this) so the child can make contact when they turn 18, but until then I'd rather not know too much about them. Probably rather selfish of me but I find that the less info I have, the less I think of them as the 'father' and the more I think of them as the 'donor' - which is how I want it to be. I also find the choice of donor easier with less, more basic information as it stops me selecting as if I were selecting a date/partner....if you see what I mean  

But understand that some people feel more comfortable with more info, and certainly there are benefits in that you will have more to tell the child as they are growing up, which can only be a good thing. 

re having treatment in the Czech Republic (or indeed other clinics abroad) - don't rule it out just because you would be going on your own - lots of people go it alone and it's not as hard as it might seem. There always seems to be someone from FF out in Brno at Reprofit clinic so you're unlikely to be completely on your own anyway. You would need to import sperm if you did decide this though as the info Reprofit has on their donors is very slim (less than UK) and the donors remain anonymous...

Good luck - there's lots to think about, but you'll get there  
Laura
x


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## some1 (May 13, 2006)

Hello Jeanette and Sima - not sure if I've already said hello, but if not - hello and welcome!

Just wanted to chip in to the discussion about donor information and say that I really identify with Lauris about more information making the choice more difficult.

To start with, I was really keen on having a US donor because of all the extra information you can get, but then I read some American donor threads where the women were tying themselves in knots trying to select the perfect donor and finding that every donor had some kind of 'fault' (e.g. one woman rejected an otherwise ideal donor because his profile said that his favourite animal was a monkey and she thought that was strange) and wondering how accurate/honest the profiles actually were.  However much you know about the donor, they are still a stranger.

In the end, the information I got about my (UK) donor was enough to make me feel confident to go ahead (i.e. height, eye colour, hair colour, age, build, blood group, along with the letter that he has written to any children resulting from his donations).  There was one aspect I was a little concerned about, but as the nurse at the clinic said - there is always something.

Also, from my experience - don't know if others feel the same - once the donor was chosen it became a much smaller issue.

Some1

xx


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## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

Hi Jeanette,
If you are importing to the UK then yes you do have to pay for the pregnancy slot - HFEA's rules I'm afraid as the donor can only have 10 births so you're paying up front for the priviledge, however if you had the sperm sent to Czech and your treatment done there then I believe you don't pay the pregnancy slot as Czech rules and regs are different.  Dinky can confirm this.  

It may seem steep, however I have got a donor with whom I feel very comfortable with, and boy that did take me some time.  I did get more choice and a lot more info on the donor, which I was happy with.  It is a personal choice though.  Although £1000 may seem steep, sperm over here isn't that cheap either.  
Good luck and I hope you find the wigglies for you...
Take care
R x x


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## Betty-Boo (Oct 14, 2007)

Hi Jeanette - the £1000 is just for the pregnancy slot (one off charge), you're best of speaking to your embryologist as to how many vials to import.  I imported 3 ICI vials as am going down the IVF route.  If you're going down the IUI route you'll need the IUI vials.  You will pay import fees each time so you'll need to weigh up whats more economical for you.  I do know the clinic were doing a special deal, buy so many vials and get one free - would be worth speaking to them.  You can not use this sperm for home insemination.  It can only be sent to a registered clinic and used by that clinic.  if its home insemination you're looking for then unfortunately the european sperm bank won't be able to help.  There are very strict guidelines in importing sperm into the UK.  There are websites that deal in sperm for home insemination, but to be honest I personally wouldn't use them.  I want to see in black and white that the donor has been screen for everything.  
Hope that helps, speak to your embryologist as they really know what you'll need for IUI / IVF.
Take care
R x x


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## Jengelina (May 19, 2008)

I've just been spending my Sat evening watching the X factor and perusing the donor lists at the European Sperm Bank!  

However, was disappointed to find that just about everyone of the Open donors who could be used in UK were 'sold out'  - (so bizarre that you can shop for sperm online!! ) 

Has anyone else successfully imported from here? Mini - I think you did? Just wondering if you found the supplies so scarce as well


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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Might be worth emailing them Jengelina?

When I was looking into it, I checked the website and there seemed to be very few blue eyed/blonde (those are my key criteria) open ID donors. When I emailed she replied with a list of 11...wonder if the website is not always 100% up to date

Anyway, just a thought, hope you manage to work something out
Suitcase
x


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## lizt (Feb 10, 2007)

Hi Jeanette

Just wanted to say that I used zytex, they have a branch here in Canada. I used many vials of the stuff over the course of tx and four different donors and at my clinic they always told me the motility etc and always commented on how good it was. I am totally with the more information the better, for me I felt I owed it to my child to be able to give him as much information as I could as well as giving my child the opportunity to contact the donor, zytex gives you so much and I think the pictures of the donor as  child and as an adult are going to be invaluable to my son but mostly the short letter he wrote about about himself that really did give an in sight into him as a person, I think all of this information can only help my child. 

Good luck with the search, a top tip I have is to buy for a few treatments if you find a donor you really like. I say this because you can't help but form a vision of your future child and if you are constantly having to change donors due to a lack of stock then it is emotionally quite hard, it is almost like a bereavement when the test comes back negative because you know the vision you had will never be and it will change with a different donor. Does that make sense? this is just my personal view.

Liz


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## Sima (Aug 10, 2008)

Hi Jeanette

How are you getting on with your search?  I know it is a tough decision deciding on which donor to use and also where to get the sperm from.  I guess it is a case of too much choice makes making a decision even more difficult.

Let me tell you what I have found out over the last two weeks.

I am with the Bridge in London and I was given several donors to chose from.  The choice given to me was OK but like you I felt I wanted to have more information to help me in the decision process.  The donor bank was very helpful and as they know all of the donors were able to give me a little more information on the donors than was on the original profile sheet.  They also told me that for, at least one of the donors, they had a photo which I could look at for a fee.  The fee was GBP25 for a look and GBP100 for unlimited looks at the clinic.  By this stage I decided not to take them up on the offer to look at a photo of my preferred donor since I thought once again it could influence my decision and as I said before too much information etc......  It was good to know that if I did decide to go with that donor and got pregnant with that donor then there was at least a photo on file which I could refer to in the future.  

After all that I decided to import sperm from Xytex in the US.  The key for me was the amount of additional information given about the donor and the donor's family which I thought would be useful background info for any child that I might conceive.  I particularly liked the donor essay which gave some background to the motivation behind the donor's reasons for donating his sperm.

My order goes through on Monday and will be with the clinic on Wednesday.  Cost wise - $475 per vial, $585 freight fee, $850 tank deposit (this is fully refundable on return of the tank).  In the UK I will then pay GBP250 importation fee and GBP230 annual storage fee at the clinic (I guess your clinic would charge a different fee).  The importation fee also includes the HFEA registration fee.  I did ask about the pregnancy fee but my clinic was not aware of this fee.  So either I do not have to pay it when importing from the US or it will be a nasty surprise later....

I managed to save quite a bit of money on the transportation and freight fee (over US1000) because the clinic  arranged to ship my order along with another order going to my clinic at the same time.  

Good luck.  I wish you all the best.  

Sxx


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## Sima (Aug 10, 2008)

Patterdale

Thanks. 

It felt as though it took me forever to make up my mind but in reality it was not that long. 

It looks like I should be able to start my treatment after my next AF which will be in mid October.  I am really excited.  Fingers crossed it won't be too long before I get a positive result.

All the best

Sima x


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