Question 1

What is CMV Status?

Accepted Answer

CMV stands for Cytomegalovirus. It is a very common virus, which most people contract before turning 50 years old. Approximately 50% of people aged 20 have been temporarily infected with this virus.

We screen all of our donors for CMV. We only accept sperm from a donation period where the donor was IgM negative (did not have an active infection). We have both CMV negative and CMV positive donors. CMV positive donors do not have an active infection; they have had CMV in the past and retained antibodies to it.

If you are CMV positive, you may use either a CMV positive or CMV negative donor. If you know you are CMV negative, or are using a clinic that requires a CMV negative donor, please use the filter options in the donor search to narrow your selection to a CMV negative donor. Most individuals are unaware of their CMV status and the majority of adults will have had a CMV infection at some point in their life and be CMV positive.

An infection with CMV is mostly harmless. However, if a fetus is infected with CMV during pregnancy, the fetus could be at risk. This can happen if the mother has a primary infection of CMV during pregnancy. Due to the regular screening for IgM antibodies and the processing of sperm, the risk of contracting the virus from sperm is considered to be minuscule.

All donors have their CMV status listed on their profile.

Read more about Standards here.

Question 4

What does it mean if a donor has a condition?

Accepted Answer

In a fast-developing world with increased genetic screening, Cryos is transparent about the fact that some of our donors have genetic conditions. Genetic conditions, also commonly referred to as hereditary conditions, are present in the general population and thus also in a selection of our donors.

If we receive information about a possible hereditary condition in a donor or a donor child, the information will be assessed. If there is a possibility that it is related to the donor, the information is made available on our website. A registered condition does not mean that the donor cannot be used. For more information please see the section below: Who can use a CON donor?

Question 5

Who can use a CON donor?

Accepted Answer

Donors who have been registered with a genetic condition can only be used if the intended client reads their conditional details and signs the release stating that they understand the risk involved.

It is a fact that all individuals, and, hence, also all donors and recipients are carriers of several mutations associated with hereditary diseases including diseases with recessive and multifactorial inheritance. Therefore, it is not possible to eliminate this risk. It can be misleading to withdraw donors with registered conditions because recipients might believe that the donors who can be purchased, cannot be associated with hereditary diseases. This is not the case, as we know that all people are carriers of hereditary diseases, we just do not know the type of disease.

For donors with registered conditions, we have gained knowledge of a specific condition and subsequently, when possible we have also established a risk assessment concerning the specific condition. This allows the client to make an informed decision when selecting a conditional donor.

In a number of cases where it has been possible to identify the exact mutation in a specific gene causing a recessive disease, it is possible to eliminate the risks involved in using this donor by being tested for those specific mutations. For other types of inheritance, information on the severity of the specific condition together with the risk assessment provides the client with the information to decide whether the recipient still wants to use the given donor.

To conclude, if you want to buy sperm from a donor with a registered condition, you must declare that you have received and understood the information concerning the registered condition.

Furthermore, we strongly recommend that you seek local genetic counselling regarding questions about using a donor with a registered condition.

Question 6

How do I report a suspected condition in a donor?

Accepted Answer

To report a suspected condition, send us an e-mail or call our Customer Care.

Question 7

What is the expected pregnancy rate using donor sperm?

Accepted Answer

The accumulative pregnancy rate should be about 10-40% after the first treatment, and about 15-60% after the second treatment cycle, etc. with a total of about 50-70% after six treatment cycles and about 60-80% after 12 treatment cycles. But the pregnancy rate differs from clinic to clinic and is influenced by the type of patients (especially age) and treatment methods. A Danish University clinic reported an average pregnancy rate of 22.3% for 1131 cycles (developing from 12.9% in 1990 to 34.6%).

Question 8

Do you deliver to private customers?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we deliver to private customers.

There are many issues which must be considered, e.g. medical examination, diagnosis, scanning, timing, and hormonal stimulation or other types of medication. We recommend that you are always under the care of a physician or other health professional.

If you are treated by a doctor or other healthcare professionals your chances of getting pregnant is three to four times higher per cycle than by home insemination, as a doctor or healthcare professional can offer you IUI or IVF treatment.

If you do not want, or do not have access to treatment by a doctor or healthcare professional you can read more about home insemination here.

Question 9

What is a Release Authorization?

Accepted Answer

Clients from the state of New York having the sperm shipped directly to their home, are required to have a doctor complete a Release Authorization.

This form is the doctor's approval for donor sperm to be used for artificial insemination either at their office or the client's home.

Specimens cannot be picked up in our office or shipped to a home in NY without a signed Release Authorization from your doctor. Clients from all other states do not require a Release Authorization.

Question 10

How to carry out home insemination?

Accepted Answer

The instruction manual for home insemination is included in all shipments of donor sperm to private customers. You can also download it in English or Spanish.

Question 11

What is MOT (motlity)?

Accepted Answer

MOT is short for motility and means the sperms ability to move or swim. A MOT20 means that there is a minimum of 20 million motile spermatozoa per ml in the sample after thawing according to the WHO-standard.

We operate with the following qualities:

Intra Cervical Insemination or unwashed sperm
ICI-MOT5, ICI-MOT10, ICI-MOT20, ICI-MOT30+
Intra Uterine Insemination or washed/purified sperm
IUI-MOT5, IUI-MOT10, IUI-MOT20, IUI-MOT30+

Question 12

What is IUI (Intra Uterine Insemination)?

Accepted Answer

Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) is an insemination where the sperm is inseminated directly into the uterine cavity. This is done at a clinic. Scientific studies have shown a three to four times higher pregnancy rate through IUI than through vaginal/cervical insemination (ICI).

However, before IUI can be carried out, the sperm must be prepared through swim-up or density gradient centrifugation in order to remove prostaglandins (from the prostate) and bacteria from the sperm. ICI straws must always be prepared. If this is not done, the patient may react negatively or get severe cramps.

Cryos offers IUI ready sperm that has been prepared and is ready to use for IUI treatment.

Question 13

What is ICI (Vaginal/Cervical Insemination)?

Accepted Answer

Intra Cervical Insemination (ICI) is a vaginal insemination, where the sperm is inseminated into the entrance of the cervical channel.

ICI is performed with raw (unwashed) sperm with its content of seminal plasma, prostate secretion, etc. Raw sperm is not sterile and because of the contents of prostaglandin it must not be used for an intra uterine insemination (IUI).

The pregnancy rate for ICI varies from 20-25% for a young, healthy women’s first treatment to less than 5% for older women. If no pregnancy is achieved after 3-6 treatment cycles we recommend more advanced treatment such as IUI or IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).

If ICI unwashed sperm is not available of your favorite donor then IUI ready sperm can be used instead.

Question 14

Can I get in touch with the donor in the future?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes donor children, parents or donors contact us in order to get in touch with each other. It may sound positive, but we have obligations towards the donors as well as to the future parents.

Clients and donors have signed an agreement never to try and contact the other party. But of course, we have no agreement with the children and cannot influence their behavior.

The identity of the Non-ID Release (formerly Anonymous) donors will be confidential forever.

The identity of the ID Release (formerly Non-Anonymous) donors, is kept secret until the child turns 18. If the child at this point wants to get in contact with the donor, we can provide the child with identifying information about the donor. The donors have given consent to meet the children, however Cryos has no responsibility for this. The children need the Donor Number/pseudo Name in order to request the information.

If you want to ensure that your child can contact the donor, you must choose a ID Release donor.

Question 15

How can my child get in contact with the donor?

Accepted Answer

When you have registered a pregnancy, you can receive a Donor Child Certificate from Cryos. To do so, please contact our Customer Care.

At the age of 18, the child can contact Cryos and present the DCC for further information about the donor: name, address and ID-Number.

Question 16

How many children per donor?

Accepted Answer

In order to protect the privacy and rights of our donors and recipients, we cannot answer the specific question of how many children have been reported per donor. This is especially true in the United States where pregnancy reporting is not required.

If you are ordering for treatment outside of the United Sates you can always check if a donor has reached the national quota under Donor Search.

Question 17

How worried should I be about inadvertent consanguinity (also known as inbreeding)?

Accepted Answer

There is no reason to be concerned about the partnering of two donor conceived children from the same donor. The risk is extremely low, especially if the sperm bank distributes nationally and internationally, as Cryos does.

However, to get a better understanding of the risks, you should know more about consanguinity. Consanguinity, at it’s simplest, means that the DNA of the two parents is too identical. Recessive disorders in the DNA, which both the parents were only carriers of, can result in being passed on to the offspring and affect them. It is important to understand that we all carry plenty of recessive disorders in the DNA (C.J. Bell 2011) also the donors.

However, the risk may only increase by a few percent, in comparison to normal procreation. The larger problem of consanguinity arises if it continues generation after generation, as everybody sooner or later will be affected. This is seen for instance in very small and isolated communities or in royal families. This is not relevant for donors as it is only a one-generation issue.

To avoid or minimize the affects of consanguinity, small sperm banks servicing only a little community should only allow very few children per donor, but it can be up to 1 donor child for every 32,000 citizens if nationally or internationally distributed, according to the recommendation from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (page 53). This goes to show that consanguinity is only a question about distribution and in fact, consanguinity by sperm donors is considered to be much less frequent than the general risk in the community (J.L. Serre, 2013).

To ensure geographical distribution, we follow national and international quotas. You can always check if a donor has reached the national or the international quota under Donor Search when you click on "See details" of a specific donor. You can use the "Check pregnancy quota" function to get the right information.

Question 18

What is a Quota Reservation?

Accepted Answer

A Quota Reservation is required in some countries to ensure that the limit of pregnancies by a donor is not exceeded.

The Quota Reservation guarantees that you can use the donor during your entire treatment and for siblings even if local quotas have been reached since your initial purchase. Please remember to reserve straws for siblings.

To check if a Quota Reservation is required in your treatment country, please see Donor Search.

Question 19

When and how should I report my pregnancy?

Accepted Answer

If you have become pregnant with the help of a Cryos donor, it is important that you report the pregnancy to us, so in the unlikely occurrence that your donor has a medical condition, we are able to contact you immediately.

We suggest reporting your pregnancy when you have passed the first trimester and before the birth of your child.

To report your pregnancy, please log in to your account on our website and go to the page ”Pregnancies”. Here you can register your pregnancy.

If you have had treatment in a clinic, you should report your pregnancy to both your clinic and to Cryos.

Question 20

Do you have open ID donors?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we have open ID donors. We call them "ID Release" (formerly Non-anonymous) donors.

They can also be called "ID disclosure" donors as well as "known" donors.

The ID Release donors have contractually accepted that the children, when they have turned 18, can gain access to identifying information. You can search for ID Release donors in Donor Search.

Question 21

Where are your donors from?

Accepted Answer

The majority of our donors are from the US and reflect the general population in the USA.

However, we cooperate with Cryos International network and have donors with other ethnical backgrounds and phenotypes, such as Scandinavian.

Question 22

What type of donor should I choose?

Accepted Answer

In some countries, it is illegal to use ID Release donors and in others it is illegal to use Non-ID Release (formerly Anonymous) donors, so remember to check your country's regulations.

If a lot of information about the donor is important to you, you should choose a ID Release donor with an Extended profile. However, before choosing, please ensure that the clinic accepts treatment with Extended profile donors as some clinics only treat with Basic profile donors
If you want to know as little as possible about the donor, you should choose an Non-ID Release donor with Basic profile

If the regulations of your country say that you cannot use a certain type of donor profile for clinic treatment, remember that you can order any type of donor for home insemination. You choose, what is best for you.

Example in the UK:
If you are going for treatment at a clinic in the UK the donor has to be ID Release and you should select the UK Standard in our donor search to see all the available UK compliant donors.

If you want to do a home insemination you can choose among all of our donors.

Question 23

Is blood type important for my choice of donor?

Accepted Answer

The donor's blood type is tested according to the AB0-system (A, B, AB or 0), and the Rhesus-system (-/+). It is rare that the blood type has an affect on the choice of donor, just as rare as it has a role when finding a partner under natural conditions. If you choose a donor on the basis of blood type, please remember this could reduce the selection of donors drastically.

The blood type is important in two cases:

If the woman’s blood type is Rhesus negative (expressed Rh-) and if the donor is Rh+.
In this case there is a 50% risk that the child will get the blood type Rh+ and the possibility that the mother creates antibodies against the child is present. This is normally not at problem in the first pregnancy, but during the following pregnancies the child's condition must be followed carefully.
If you do not want to tell the child that it is a donor child.
If the social father's blood type is different than the possible combinations according to the donor’s blood type, it will be clear, that the social father cannot be the genetic father. If you are planning to tell the child about their origin, this has no relevance.

Question 24

What are alias donors?

Accepted Answer

From 2001-2006, Cryos International – Denmark ApS released donor sperm from certain donors in the USA.

The fictitious name was used for marketing purposes in the USA, while the original number was used in Denmark. However, since 1st of March 2009, all the alias donors have been presented together under their fictitious name, and the documentation now clearly indicates (Summary of Records) when the donor is an alias. Since 1st of March 2009, Cryos has not sold alias donors under numbers, only under fictitious names.

See example of an alias donor.
See complete list of alias donors.

Donor Sperm Questions & Answers

Below, you will find answers to a number of frequently asked questions. If you do not find what you are looking for, you are always welcome to contact us.