Some people want to use someone they know as a donor, this is referred to as a directed or known donor. The FDA requires directed donors to undergo screening and testing just like our Cryobio donors. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recommends that directed donors go through the same testing, screening, and other qualifying steps our Cryobio donors go through. We can do that. Once the screening and testing is complete, our dedicated laboratory technicians process and freeze the sperm. The sperm remains stored in liquid nitrogen tanks at Cryobio until the intended parent is ready to use it.
There are two primary examples of directed donors:
Example 1: A sperm-producing individual who does not intend to be a parent to the resulting child. This could be a friend or even a sperm-producing sibling of the non-egg-providing partner in a relationship. Directed donors and Cryobio donors serve the same purpose, which is to provide the recipient (the individual using the sperm through insemination or IVF) and intended parent a sperm sample to use in their family-building journey.
Some examples of why you would use a directed donor are: your partner is experiencing male factor infertility; you are in an LGBTQ+ relationship and neither you nor your partner produce sperm; your partner may be a cancer survivor and their treatment impacted their fertility; or it could be that you want to become a single parent and you need a sperm donor to start your journey. Whatever the reason might be, it is completely your choice to find, and use, a donor you are comfortable with.
Example 2: You are using a gestational surrogate to help build your family. In this case, the sperm-producing individual is the intended parent, but FDA regulations and ASRM recommendations require them to go through the directed donor process.
This might be you if: you are in a relationship, and you find yourself struggling with infertility, and your physician has determined that surrogacy is the best next step for you to take in your family building journey; or maybe you are a sperm producing individual who wants to have a child, but needs a surrogate to do so. Whatever the scenario might be, you, as the intended parent will be providing the sperm that will be used to attempt to establish a pregnancy. But the surrogate is not your sexually intimate partner, and because of this, you are required by the FDA to follow the same screening, testing, and sperm processing steps as are required of our Cryobio donors and directed donors who are not intending to be parents of any resulting children.
If you have any questions at all please contact us