Your safety and peace of mind matter. Therefore, when choosing a Cryos sperm donor, you can be sure that your donor meets our strict physical and mental health criteria.
How we screen our sperm donors
Here is an overview of our donor screening process:
1. Medical questionnaire and interview
Donors provide details about their family medical history and personal risk factors. Anyone with a serious hereditary mental or physical disease is rejected.
2. Psychosocial interview with our psychologist
During a psychosocial interview with our in-house psychologist, the donor candidate will be asked about his motivations, ethical considerations, openness, and expectations. The aim is to ensure that the donor candidates are mentally healthy and fully understand the implications of their choice.
3. Physical examination
We assess overall physical health and run blood and urine tests to screen for infectious diseases like HIV, Hepatitis B & C, HTLV, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Chlamydia. We also evaluate sperm quality, including motility and count.
4. Genetic carrier testing
We test for recessive diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Hemoglobinopathies (e.g., Sickle Cell Anemia), Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Tay-Sachs, and non-syndromic Deafness (GJB2).
5. Ongoing testing
Approved donors undergo regular retesting throughout their donation period to maintain safety standards.
How you find this information at Cryos
Once you select a sperm donor in our sperm donor search, you can see a Summary of Records (SOR) that includes:
- Infectious disease test results
- Donor characteristics
- Standard release information
This document is updated as donors continue to undergo periodic testing. A copy is attached to your order confirmation and included in your shipment.
If you carry a known hereditary disease, please contact our Customer Care team so we can guide you in choosing the right sperm donor.
Country specific requirements (Standards)
Cryos is licensed according to the EU-Tissue Directive and can deliver donor sperm to all EU countries as well as export outside of the EU. Most countries have different legislations regarding the use of sperm donors, including requirements in the selection and screening. During the screening process, all sperm donors at Cryos are therefore being selected and screened according to applicable law and one or several standards and released for clinical use in specific countries or areas.
When creating a free account online and indicating your treatment country, it enables us to show you only the donors that comply with applicable law in that specific country.
Learn more about the country specific requirements (Standards)..
How we handle reported diseases (conditions)
In every pregnancy, there is a small risk of having a child with a congenital disease, and in some cases, this might turn out to be inherited. At Cryos our donors undergo a thorough screening process before being accepted as a donor in order to minimize the risk of the donor passing any serious conditions on to the child.
Despite our thorough selection and screening procedure, however, the risk of having a child with a medical condition cannot be eliminated. If a condition is detected in a child, and there is reason to believe that the disease might be the result of the use of donor sperm, Cryos should be informed immediately, so that we can take the necessary action. Please reach out to our Customer Service, who can help you report a condition.
When Cryos receives a Report of Condition, our Genetics team will handle it immediately and start an investigation. The purpose of the investigation is to assess if the disease could or could not be related to the donor.
In some cases, our Genetics team will conclude that the report can be rejected, and that no further actions are necessary. This is the case when the genetics team assesses that the disease is not related to the donor or that the risk of recurrence in half siblings is not significantly elevated.
In other cases, the Report of Condition requires further investigation. The donor’s sperm will then be put in quarantine, as a temporary precaution, while further investigation is carried out.
Eventually, the conclusion will either be that the report of condition can be rejected, or that the donor must be permanently blocked. A donor will be permanently blocked if our Genetics team assesses that the condition might be related to the donor. If a donor is permanently blocked, his sperm can only be purchased for sibling treatment – which means, only by women who have already conceived a child with sperm from this donor.
Frequently asked questions about Cryos' screening of sperm donors
What is a Standard?
Countries have different regulations regarding selection, screening, and approval procedures for sperm donors and donor sperm. An example is a Standard for CMV infection and because we want to be sure that we meet the different Standards, we only accept donors who have tested IgM negative. We call these Standards. A donor/sperm straw can be released according to one or several Standards.
Are sperm donors checked?
To become a sperm donor at Cryos, candidates must go through a thorough screening process in which our donor coordinators evaluate their physical and mental health.
How are sperm donors screened?
The sperm donors are screened for several infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B and C, HIV, and syphilis. Besides the infectious diseases, we also perform a genetic carrier test to check for recessive diseases such as Cystic fibrosis, Spinal muscular atrophy, and Tay Sachs, and the donor’s family health is mapped. Furthermore, the sperm donor’s mental health is evaluated.
Why screen sperm donors?
We screen sperm donors because it is our responsibility and to help ensure the best possible chances of having a healthy child. We want to help create or enlarge families, but we must do it in a way, where we ensure the health and well-being of the future donor-conceived children.
Are sperm donors screened for CMV?
Yes. At Cryos, we screen all candidates for a variety of viruses and genetic disorders, as well as their CMV-status. We accept only donors who have tested IgM negative. This means that the donors do not have an active CMV infection.