[Sadie987]

Have any of you had success with Fairfax Cryobank? I ordered 6 vials from there and I just read some very disturbing reviews. A lot of people are saying that the IUI vials have seriously low sperm counts even though they guarantee a minimum of 10 mil. Then even with the low counts they won’t refund all of the money, only half and it’s a huge ordeal to get the half! Please please please tell me some of had some success with them for IUI!
I can’t go back, the vials are already ordered!

Thanks!

PS: If you had a bad experience please don’t tell me, I don’t need to be any more stressed out!

[Logyn]

there was a similar question asked about Fairfax. Please click on the link below

IUI donor sperm from Fairfax

I hope you get more answers from other members.

Good luck.

[Logyn]

Before your IUI's does your RE give you the sperm count totals? I'm pretty sure that everything is fine with the vials you purchased. Please try not to stress (I know its easier said then done) It seems like I've read several success stories from women who have used Fairfax and got preggo, hopefully, they will chime in on this thread.

[tomekwa]

Hello there, I used fairfax three times and all of the samples were higher than others that I've seen around here.

I don't quite remember all of the numbers but I think that they were something like
1st IUI - 37mil
2nd IUI - 67 mil
3rd IUI - 55 mil (this is where we got pregnant)

I know some ladies here that used other banks and even thought they did have a lower count than I did they still got pregnant.
I know this is all very stressful but in the big scheme of things this is just a tiny little part of it.
good luck with everything and feel free to send me a Private Message if u have any questions.

[Rob&Irina]

we used Fairfax 4 times (2 different donors) with no success... sample sizes were anywhere from 17mm to 45mm...
if your samples less than 10mm, ask them for refund...


we got pregnant twice (3 babies total) using California...

[Greg'slady]

I'm now (just found out!) and I used fairfax. I don't think it's all about the sperm. Sperm is sperm, it's about timing and the lining and that little bit of magic!

My counts were all 15 mill + post-wash so those are some "excellent" numbers according to my Dr.!

Good luck! Hope this helps!

[Scarlet1234]

I have also had the same bad experience with Fairfax. 5 vials, all not meeting their minimum requirements. I spoke with Stephen Pool and he will not refund me the money and I will not use samples from them again. I have spent over 5,000 on their vials not to mention the cost of the drugs and most of all the emotional cost.

I have every intention of pursuing this to the full extent, Fairfax is playing with peoples lives and do not care. The two different donors I order from are still being sold on their website even though they are aware these donors have issues. Unbelievable.

I am doing research on the Internet, with the FDA, and with CBER and am requesting full disclosure on why I am not being refunded as well as why substandard donors are still being used.

During my research I have found so many complaints and issues with Fairfax I see this as something that should/will be given to a Lawyer. This company should be held responsible for both the financial and punitive damages they are inflicting on people.

The extent of Fairfax's lack of quality and the damage they are doing, both emotional and financial. The two donors for me were 1480 and 2533 and they are both still knowingly being sold on their website.

The amount of complaints I am finding is shocking to say the least. If anyone has more info about what their experieces are please post them and if possible the donor numbers, at least future peple may benefit by avoiding those donors of not Fairfax altogether.

The extent of the damage Fairfax is doing goes far beyond financial, I found the article at the link below

http://www.donoroffspr...

That company has no ethics and let alone not pulling vials based on low motility they are not pulling vials when they have been told that the donor's sperm is producing off spring with genetic health problems.

If anyone has anything they want t share please post it here

I have checked and there are reports at the better business bureau aganst Fairfax. The are for billing and refund policies.
The company's size, volume of business and number of transactions may have a bearing on the number of complaints received by the BBB. The complaints filed against a company may not be as important as the type of complaints, and how the company has handled them. The BBB generally does not pass judgment on the validity of complaints filed.

Number of complaints processed by the BBB
in the last 36 months: 2
in the last 12 months: 1

Complaints Concerned:
Credit or Billing Disputes (1 complaints)
1 Resolved

Refund Practices (1 complaints)
1 Resolved

http://www.dc.bbb.org/...

I am filing a complaint there as well as it seems they were both resolved. If that is what it takes to get a refund then so be it. Not to mention it can be done online.

If anyone out there has had this isuse do the same... there is strength in numbers.

this is the website to file the complaint
http://www.dc.bbb.org/...

It is a little hard to search the company but it is there. Even if you do not want to get refund make a complaint anyway about any bad service they have given you. If we do nothing then more women will be hurt by them.

[Rossmary]

Sadie, I also read a lot of complains and sad stories about Fairfax, after I have purchased the vials. All 3 vials I used from then from the same donor were fine , just slightly over the minimum required numbers. I got on the 3rd attempt after two unsuccessful cycles due to poor timing, not poor quality of vials. Since you bought the vials, just hope, you will have positive experience and healthy baby very soon. I have to agree with others that customer service form fairfax is very unprofessional.
I also would recomend to check donorsiblings registry if your donor have any registered babies form your donor, but don't treat it too seriously, not everybody registers for it. I personally didn't register I'm pregnant from DS.
Good Luck!!!

[Raquel_09]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Fairfax. In a way I am in the same boat as well. The RE clinic I go to only works with them. However, the donor I chose was not sperm count problem. The first IUI had 19 million and the second was 36 million. What my problem was , was that the motility was very low. 36% for the first and only 17% for the second. That was very low. Kris got preggers with only 11 million, but her motility was around 50% or something!!!

I had 2 IUI's that were not successful. It could have been any reason, timing maybe. For IUI #3 I am going with a different donor. He already had a pregnancy reported, so I am hoping his numbers are a little better. Even if his numbers are low 10-15 million, I think motility is more important because they need to be to able to swim, swim, swim.

Wishing you the best of luck Sadie ( you too Scarlett!) and that Fairfax changes their policies and give customers their money back. It is not fair that we have to pay sooo much money and then have to deal with their unacceptable services! KUP!!

[Alicat]

We ordered 18 vials from fairfax back in Jan of 2004. We wanted all of our kids to be from the same donor. While we were TTCing #1 we had 5 cycles, two which never made it to IUI. The other three were B2B IUI's and we got preggo one the last one when I had more than one folicle. I dont' remember what our counts were but we picked a donor that had pregnacies reported. We started TTCing #2 in March of 2009 and did 2 cycles of single IUI's and got preggo on the second try. I was worried that the sperm would be to old and wouldn't work. Our numbers this time were over 10 mil, I think the big difference for us was that our RE no longer does B2B IUI's, she has us come in to have an ultrasound everyday after trigger to look for signs of ovulation and then does the IUI when the folicle starts getting smaller. Good Luck!

[tarla]

I understand where you are coming from. I also used Fairfax. I will tell you that I hated them! We had low numbers and motility(Check Siggy). The first IUI we combined two vials and it was still not the greatest. We didn't get but they ended up refunding us the money with no problems.

So then we thought this is crazy(they were supposed to be the best vials). If the first ones were that bad the rest are going to be even worse. So we figured we would have them send 4 more and we would combine two each and do a back to back. We had ordered 8 vials and we didn't want to waste our time. We figured lets use them all up and get our refunds. Well we got a shock when we ended up . Fairfax actually refunded us for two of the vials that we had combined even though we were . So after this I will say that I to think it is all about how you time it and all the other stuff. As you can see our numbers were not good and I'm now 11 weeks. Good luck!

[Deker]

I used Fairfax for my four rounds of IUI. Here are my stats

IUI #1: 15 mil

IUI #2: 22 mill

IUI #3: 40 mill (used a different donor)

IUI #4 55 mil (used a different donor)

I got pregnant on the 3rd cycle but it ended up being a chemical pregnancy. I have PCOS so I don't think the donor had anything to do with my failures.
Besides, I technically got pregnant once.

[Scarlet1234]

Fairfax Cryobank has so many complaints on virtually every fertility and sperm bank info website I have visited. Do not use them as you will be wasting your time and money

These complaints range from
Vials being sent out that are far below their published quality standards, this mean the possibility of the treatment resulting in pregnancy is virtually zero.

They do not give refunds for samples that do not meet their quality standards, they do not live up to their warranty.

Unethical warranty in that you have to report within 5 days, there is no need for this except to minimize their risk of giving a refund, and they also say if you get pregnant there will be no refund. The test for pregnancy is about 2 weeks after the treatment... so why the 5 days?

After having a complaint about low post thaw motility about a donor they continue to sell other vials from that donor.

After having complaints about genetic illnesses in offspring on a donor they still continued to sell from that donor, See info on donor 1084 and this is not the only one. Consult the donor sibling registry for the others.

They do not tell you about the warranty; they send it to the doctor and rely on the doctor, a third party to communicate their policies.

They are dismissive and rude when you have a problem with them particularly Stephen Pool who makes the decisions.

If they cannot test correctly for simple motility count how can they be trusted to test properly for communicable diseases??

Fairfax Cryobank is responding to complaints not by doing the right thing and improving, they instead direct you to the website to read testimonials, these testimonials should be called false marketing lies. Of course they are not going to tell the truth about all the complaints they have. Of course they are going to post how good they are. Do not listen, do your research and see what Fairfax Cryobank really is.

To anyone who has suffered because of Fairfax Cryobank, my heart goes out to you. Image how it feels to go through drug treatments, spending all that time, money and emotion only to be told the donor sperm is useless and will never work. I do not have to image this, they did it to me twice.

To anyone who has suffered there is something you can do. There is a form to fill out on the FDA website:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/DownloadForms/default.htm


It is the MedWatch form 3500 which is used to make complaints to the FDA on biological product quality. The form is easy to fill out and is completely confidential. The FDA has authority over Fairfax Cryobank and can make Fairfax Cryobank improve their quality and their policies but the FDA needs to be made aware of the problem.

All the best wishes to those of you trying. I hope none of you have to go through what I did due to Fairfax Cryobank, If this review saves one person from that misery then I am glad I posted it.

[emily71]

I am new to this board and I want to share my experience with Fairfax. We went through the Fairfax search tool and picked out 6 Donors. It was nice to pick out Donors that represented my Husband of course. Finally, we decided to purchase childhood photographs of our top 3 donors. With this option, we were able to pick the exact Donor as soon as we saw the photograph. It was spooky to see the resemblance to my Husband and his Father on our Donor pick.

[Raquel_09]

Hello Emily,

Have you had your IUI with DS already? I saw your siggy and it said IUI February 2011. I wish you all the best of luck and I send you baby dust

We went with Fairfax Cryobank as well and got pregnant on IUI #3. I know there are some ladies out there who hate them and had an awful experience with them. We did have to switch donors though. But that did the trick because that donor got us pregnant! LOL! We love our son sooooo much. He is our life!
Baby #2 will be planned probably late this year or early next year. We plan to purchase 3 or 4 vials soon. I also got preggers at age 34!

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.