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Telling Your Child about Their Donor Origins

Are you planning on telling your donor conceived child about his/her origins? It's not an easy question and you have to plan for it. If you want your child to have the option of having contact with the donor, you can choose an ID Option donor. This gives your child, with a birth registration, the option of contacting the donor when they are eighteen or older.

What are The Steps I Need to Follow if I am Ready to Use Donor Sperm?

a blog by Michelle Ottey, PhD, Laboratory Director for Fairfax Cryobank, September 18, 2013

What are the steps I need to follow if I am ready to use Donor Sperm?

  1. Select a physician who can manage your medical care

    Typically these are obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs) or infertility specialists like Reproductive Endocrinologists (REs). Once you have selected a physician, you will meet with him/her to access your overall health issues involving a future pregnancy, the procedures that are best suited for your reproductive needs, and the timing of any attempts using donor insemination (DI). If DI is the approach chosen, you are ready to start the sperm donor selection process.

Can My Friend Be My Sperm Donor?

Many women and couples consider asking a friend or relative to be their sperm donor. This is a possibility when there are fertility issues for the male partner or when there is no male partner involved in your family building experience.

What is CMV?

silent man
Cytomegalovirus is a member of the herpes family

a blog by Michelle Ottey, PhD, Laboratory Director for Fairfax Cryobank, July 12, 2013

Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is a member of the herpes virus family. Other examples of conditions related to herpes family viruses are chicken pox and cold sores. CMV is carried by many individuals, approximately 50-85% of American adults will test CMV positive, confirming exposure, typically childhood exposure and a mild infection similar to a typical cold. The immune system develops antibodies to fight the infection; the virus remains alive, but becomes dormant, hiding inside certain cells for the rest of the person's lifetime.

A Great Step in a Long Journey

a blog by Michelle Ottey, PhD, Laboratory Director for Fairfax Cryobank, July 4, 2013

Last week on Wednesday 6/26/13, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. What this means is that same sex couples who are married in a state that has marriage equality will now have federal recognition of their marriage. This is an incredibly important step in the journey to equality for the LGBTQ community and their families.

How Many Vials of Donor Sperm Will I Need?

a blog by Michelle Ottey, PhD, Laboratory Director for Fairfax Cryobank, June 27, 2013

Often we are asked how many tries are in a vial of donor sperm. The short answer is that one vial equals one try. Sperm Banks split the Sperm Donor’s sample into several cryovials dependent on the volume, count, and motility of his fresh analysis.

Sperm Banks provide various prep types of the donor sperm; Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), Intracervical Insemination (ICI), IVF (in vitro fertilization), and ART (artificial reproductive technology). IUI prep is a pre-washed sample, meaning that the seminal fluid is washed out of the sperm sample; this can be a simple wash or a gradient wash that allows the lab to separate highly motile sperm from non-sperm cells and debris that is normally found in semen samples. Once washed, freeze media is added to the sample and frozen. IUI samples are used for IUI procedures where the sperm sample is thawed and inserted through the cervix into the uterus.

How does it work? What is it like for the Sperm Donor?

a blog by Michelle Ottey, PhD, Laboratory Director for Fairfax Cryobank, June 13, 2013

The experience for the sperm donor will vary from sperm bank to sperm bank, but I can describe how it works at our Cryobank.

A man who is interested in becoming a sperm donor has to go through a rigorous screening process before he ever steps foot in the clinic. Typically the men apply online, fill out a follow up medical application online, then wait to hear if they will be invited to screen at the clinic.

When they are invited to screen at the clinic, they are given a tour of the facility and a brief description of the program. They see the donor rooms, have an opportunity to ask questions, and then they receive a short questionnaire and a specimen cup.

How Old is My Donor?

a blog by Michelle Ottey, PhD, Laboratory Director for Fairfax Cryobank, June 3, 2013

One of the frequently asked questions of our client services representatives is, “how old is my donor?” Our sperm bank does not provide the date of birth or specific age of our donors to the patients. A date of birth is identifying information and we work to ensure the confidentiality of the donor identities. All of our donors are between the ages of 18 and 39 when donating. We follow this guideline based on the American Association of Tissue Banking (AATB) Standards because we are an AATB accredited Sperm Bank. Several other regulating agencies require this age range for sperm donation as well, such as NY State.


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