Once upon a time, not so long ago, a woman without a man who wanted to have a baby might talk to a friend. That friend might tell another friend who might have an acquaintance who knew a man willing to help. If the parties agreed, the gentleman would produce an offering, and one of the women would swiftly transport it to the mother-to-be in a sterilized mayonnaise or peanut butter jar. We'll never know if the apocryphal turkey baster was ever pressed into service, but if all went well, nine months later a baby would be born. Meanwhile, the whole event -- especially the donor's identity -- would remain cloaked in mystery.

That was 25 years ago. Today, thanks to sperm banks, having a child from an anonymous donor is no longer the clandestine adventure it once was. Sperm banks have been springing up across the nation since the late 1970s, with about twelve major ones currently operating in the United States.

Most will ship sperm across the country and some will send frozen samples to women around the world. Certain banks place particular emphasis on helping heterosexual couples in which the man is infertile, while others make it a high priority to serve single women and lesbian couples.

"A big part of our mission is making reproductive choices available to everyone," says Sue Rubin, board chair of The Sperm Bank of California in Berkeley. One of the early sperm banks and one of the first to offer services to all women, the Berkeley facility is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

At your first appointment, you'll discuss the sperm bank's services, fees, and any concerns or questions you have. Most require that you work with a doctor, although banks give you the option of picking up the sperm and inseminating at home. Sperm banks will also "wash" the sperm -- that is separate it from the semen -- if you and your doctor choose to do an intrauterine insemination (IUI). With an IUI, your doctor inserts the washed sperm into a thin, flexible tube and injects it directly into your uterus, giving the sperm better odds of connecting with an egg. If you need donor sperm, the banks will also supply it for more complicated procedures, such as in vitro fertilization.

Of course, you'll need to choose a donor -- and maybe one or two back-up donors. Your choice may not necessarily be available every month you inseminate. Many banks have donor information on their Web sites. All sperm banks limit the number of children each donor may produce. Donors are identified by number, and their profiles usually include height, weight, hair and eye color, ethnic origin, age, and in some cases education and profession. "It was sort of exciting to pick up the catalogue each month and see descriptions of the new donors," says one woman who used the Sperm Bank of California. "When I finally chose a donor, it was silly but I felt quite attached to him."

As a way to become acquainted, some banks make audiotapes of donors. Others offer pictures of the men as babies or toddlers, which helps you to get an idea of what they look like without threatening their anonymity. Some banks ask the men to write narratives about themselves and why they wanted to be sperm donors.

"I'm extroverted and goal-oriented. I have a very strong personality," wrote one green-eyed California donor. My ex-wife told me I was like an onion. (I would prefer a strawberry.) I'm not afraid to make mistakes -- I'm very optimistic and I always try to have a good time and enjoy myself." He says he chose to be a donor because he's a "starving college student going through a divorce" and needs the money.

Like this man, about half the donors to the Sperm Bank of California are willing to be contacted by their offspring when the children become adults. This kind of arrangement is still uncommon, but the bank began the "identity release" program in 1983 with the belief that children who wanted it should have information on the men who helped create them. This man said he agreed to be an identity release donor "Because if I was the child I would want to know what my father was like."

For privacy, the names on the doors of sperm banks usually have the word "reproductive" in them, but not the words "sperm" or "bank." Other than that, sperm banks look a lot like any other office. They have reception areas and rooms where the clients can talk to the staff in private. There are rooms, however, where neither the donors nor the clients go. These have large storage tanks where carefully labeled sperm vials are kept until needed.

At the Berkeley bank, rather than labeling tanks by letters, the staff has a bit of fun distinguishing them. "Some of my favorite tank names are Hundred Acre Woods, Venus, Constellation, and Kiwi," says Alice Ruby, executive director of the Berkeley bank. "Each box position has a name also, so a vial may be in location HP -- Hundred Acre Woods tank, Pooh box."

Sperm banks are not only for people who are trying to get pregnant right away. The facilities will also store a man's sperm for his future use if he's about to undergo radiation, chemotherapy, vasectomy or any other medical procedure that might affect his fertility.

Well, guys, it's not as easy as it may seem. "It's not a casual thing," says Rubin. At the Berkeley bank, the men are asked to make a year's commitment. Among sperm banks, there may be small variations in screening, but all banks say their donors undergo rigorous tests, including physical exams, blood and urine analysis and regular blood draws -- as often as every two or three months.

All donors undergo HIV testing as well as screening for other sexually transmitted diseases. Sperm banks also test for the carrier traits of genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs disease. (Each donation is quarantined for six months to make sure the donor remains HIV negative before his sperm becomes available.) For a variety of reasons, most men who want to be sperm donors are rejected.

All successful sperm donors must be "hyper-fertile," according to Rubin. Right off the bat, the freezing process kills 50 to 80 percent of the sperm, so the men must have exceptionally high sperm counts to start with. They can also be rejected if they don't know enough details about their family health history or if they have a significant number of family members with genetically carried medical conditions.

The men have to agree to make a donation once a week and refrain from ejaculating within the 48 hours before visiting the sperm bank so the sperm are as potent as possible. All in all, it's a fairly restrictive routine for $50 per donation, Rubin says.

"We always ask the guys why they're interested in being a donor. It's a mix," says Rubin. "Definitely for many of the men, the additional income is attractive. (But) a lot of them feel committed to the mission of the organization. It really takes a phenomenal commitment to be a donor."

-- Elaine Herscher is a senior editor at Consumer Health Interactive.

References

First published December 19, 2002
Last updated January 14, 2008
Copyright © 2002 Consumer Health Interactive

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