Sperm Donor Health Checklist

Choosing to become a sperm donor to help out a single woman, a couple struggling to get pregnant or a same sex couple who need somebody to help them become a family is an extremely selfless act, particularly if you are choosing to do this without requesting access to the child.

However, before you begin your process of donating sperm, it is imperative that you take yourself through all of these tests suggested below to ensure that you are in the best possible shape. This will surely help to speed up the process of sperm donation, and ensure that the insemination process is easy and, most importantly, successful.

Prospective parents looking for a sperm donor should require results of these tests from every sperm donor that they speak to, and it will give them peace of mind when you begin the insemination process to know that their donor is healthy, fertile and ready to help create a new life.

Besides legal checks, accounting for your own and your family’s medical history and agreeing on a contract with your co-parent or the parents you are donating to. The following are the most important tests that you should ensure to undertake before donating your sperm.

Test for sexually transmitted infections.

Even if you are 100% certain about your sexual health, you should undertake both a HIV and a blood and urine test for any other sexually transmitted diseases. This test will enable you to then prove to the prospective parents or the sperm bank that you are in good sexual health and that you are at absolutely no risk of passing on any ill health either to the prospective mother or to the child.

Blood typing test.

You should undertake a blood and urine test for blood typing and other health indicators such as urine analysis and liver function. This enables you to have an in depth analysis of your medical health, ensuring that no issues slip through the cracks, and it will give the prospective parents peace of mind before insemination.

Genetic testing.

It’s important that you, and perhaps the prospective mother, undertake testing for genetic carrier traits. This is more important for the sperm donor to carry out if he is either an anonymous donor or a donor that will not play a part in the child’s life. Allowing the parents to have the information regarding genetic carrier traits will give them the ability to prepare themselves for any possible health problems in the future, without needing to track down their donor or navigate tricky medical testing. These tests should be carried out for:cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell disease, thalassemia and other blood disorders.

Semen analysis.

Besides health testing, you will also need to ensure you get your sperm tested and ‘certified’ before you donate. These tests should incorporate sperm count and motility at the very least.

Sperm count

Sperm count testing involves measuring the concentration of sperm in a man’s ejaculation and measuring this volume against what typical figures state as ‘normal’ – which is currently over 15 million sperm per millilitre. It is possible to undertake these tests at home with your own kit, or to have it done for you by a medical professional.

Motility

Motility testing means testing how active your sperm are. Motility and sperm count should both be tested as one result can affect the other. For example, a low sperm count but a very high rate of motility could mean an overall very good fertility rate, which a high sperm count but a low rate of motility could also mean the same. It is when a low sperm count and a low motility rate occur that fertility may be questioned.