[jf5505]

Hi Everyone,

So my Dh and I talked about things and decided that if this didn't work out then we would be moving to donor sperm IUI's, however, I really wanted to know how you go about this process, do you work with your RE, or do you just go on line to their websites?

Also, any idea how long it usually takes to work, I keep seeing that you should give it 5-6 tries.

My RE said that we should do IVF one last time and do 1/2 donor and 1/2 of Dh's, but I just don't know if we have the money for another Fresh IVF. Its just such a hard decision to make....

What type of info. can you get from a donor...and do you get pictures and all of that?

Thanks again..

[Teagan873]

Hi Jackie…we were considering this as well. I looked around and found this site. You can read about the donors to get more info about history and pay a little extra for baby picture match up and even be able to hear their voice as an adult. I don’t think the RE cares where you get your DS from…I’ve seen tanks in there that I assumed was DS You just have to deal with the timing…they’ll ship next day.

http://www.cryobank.com/newhelp.cfm?WT.srch=1

[Rob&Irina]

we were using www.fairfaxcryobank.com you can get baby pictures of some donors, donor essays and stuff impressions. some free stuff, some you have to pay for... all available on-line... if you need more info, PM me...

[jf5505]

Thanks so much for the good info. and website. I will look into this.

I have gone on the site to see some of the donors, I guess you can just do it all that way...its just scary to me.

I am hoping that DIUIs will work if this FET fails. I have no clue what we will do then..

Thanks...

[Hobokitty]

You still have to work with your re when using donor sperm. The sperm bank will not ship to you unless you are working with a doctor that will sign off for you. You also have to get some tests done (I don't remember what all they are but they are blood test) that the fda mandates in order for you to use donor sperm. Then your re will have you and dh sign forms saying that you are willing to use donor sperm and will take care of any children produced (basically saying you won't go after the donor). I use fairfax and found that the extended medical questionair didn't tell me anything that the free medical questionair already had on it. Dh and I sat down and made a list of donors we would use then had fairfax do a photo match so we could narrow down who we wanted to use. You can order everything online which makes it very easy.

[Musa]

I posted a reply in the topic above. Also my doc told that it is illegal to mix sperm from two sources (!) - I am surprized yours is offering it (I wish my did too - the more the merrier) -
For a while i found it bewildering the whole donor reading thing. Now I am used to it. It is all strange when you start talking to strangers about your sperm arriving by Fedex, and ordering straws.....I worked with the Sperm Bank of California (but did not buy from them because I found a better match for my ethnic requerement) and the Scandinavian Cryobank (their first sample was terrible, and they gave me a free replacement)
I did not do look at pics, just the hand-written messages. That was enough. The Sperm Bank of CA offers staff evaluations based on your photos - they find donors that look like you or your partner, using adult information - that felt good.

[On2Injectables]

Hello. We use Fairfax also. The cost depends on the type of sample you need, and the catagory under which it falls. Being in NY (I dont know if it is the same everywhere) you must use a bank that your office works with. They often select their corisponding banks on the type of screening done on the donors.

I have had no problems with fairfax. They ship in a timley manor and have never had a problem with customer service or the such.
BUT I do give my order a couple of days cushion prior to my IUI to make sure there are no mishaps. But Im sure you all do the same thing!

Best of luck.

And as for the timing for success Im sure it depends on what type of treatment you are going through.

TTYL!

[kristin116]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if they have actually used donor sperm and it has worked and how long did it take?? I also have to use the Ovulation kits which leaves me to only fedex the pkg overnight, might be risky??

[Junebug]

The pre-testing that you need to do (that we are in the middle of right now) is STD screening. Basically, if you get an STD from the DS, they need to be able to say that neither you or DH had STD to begin with. They test for HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia- all sorts of things. It is an FDA requirement.
I had to have blood work, a pap smear and cervical cutures taken.

As far as mixing sperm, I wonder if that is a state law or federal? I was going to ask of they could fertilze some embies with DHs and some with DS, and then jsut transfer back the 2 that look the best. who knows!

We are using New England Cryogenic because my REs office has had great success with them- and it's so close to the clinc that they just drive it over instead of ship it.

[Junebug]

...and a question for you all...

Out of the possible donors that we are looking at, there are a few that are married and already have children. I thought they would be prefect to use as we know that they CAN achieve a pregnancy. Would anyone else consider this a major plus??

[foxxy]

Absolutely!!!!! We narrowed our search down based on reported pregnancies as well.

[wanting]

check out cryolab.com we had a great experience with them they have free long profiles and free baby pictures

[okkatiejane]

I just asked my RE what we needed to do. They had a whole bunch of legal stuff that we had to take care of, but that wasn't any major expense. Then we had to get blood tests. Then my RE gave us the website Cryobiology, Inc. Sperm bank , this is the one they work with. He said I could use others, but it was easier to use the one they had a contract with. You get just a very basic profile and health history. You can pay extra to get more extensive health history or baby pictures and such of the donor. There is not an option to get a current picture of the donor, but they do offer photo matching where you can send them pics of you and DH and they will choose 6 donors that look most like him in rank order. And then you can choose from those based on their profiles.