Create fertility sperm donors

[AnMar87]

Hi

Quick question for people using Create/Abc and sperm donors. Which bank did you go for. Do they work with London sperm bank I didn't see it on their list.

Hi, did you find out if they work with LSB? We have our first consultation next week and I can only see about 5/6 sperm donors on the Create website, and the donors for the other banks all seem to be based outside of the UK.

Hi

Yes LSB is on their list

Hi both! I wonder how did it go for you at the end?

My partner and I are going to start our second round of ISCI with create/abc. However, his sperm is not looking good...there are only very few and he had to do some frozen rounds. I had a miscarriage last time, and if it's the same result this round, we have to look into other options.

So now we are considering to use donor sperm. Would like to know some information about how does it work with Create/abc? Would you recommend London Sperm Bank?

Hi @Doralice sorry to hear what you've been through. Yes we went with London Sperm Bank and they are great. The vials were delivered to the Create lab without any issues.

I'd really recommend The Donor Conception Network and the Male Fertility podcast if you're looking for some resources about donor conception. They have really helped us X

@Lcm11 thank you so much for the information! The podcast is great! 🥹

Hi both, wonder how did it go with you with donor sperms? Did you use IVF or IUI?

We just had our round 2 ICSI, we only have one embryo at the end. DH's fresh sperm was 0 mobility so we ended up using the frozen ones. We are both really drained after round 2. My DH doesn't want me to go through all the procedures again, he was open to donor sperms with IUI. It's a very hard decision to make... I don't want to just give up the chance of having his child, but at the same time, even we can conceive, will the child be healthy considering his sperm quality? I'm looking at the sperm banks, feeling very lost and really don't know how to start.

@Doralice I would recommend you look at the Donor Conception Network and consider one of their Destination Parenthood workshops.

If you decide to go ahead with donor sperm some knowledgeable people here can advise you - some say it’s better to do IVF than IUI because you’re creating embryos and using one vial of sperm at a time, I don’t know if it’s true as we used donor eggs.
I would say however far ahead this sounds you can buy sperm to keep for future use so buy enough, I think you can sell it back too.

Donor conception can be a lot to get your head around and it’s a good idea to know think about what it means to you, and to any future child/ren.

Hi @Doralice I agree, I think Donor Conception Network are amazing. You might also want to see if you can have some implications counselling with a therapist specialising in donor conception.

It's great your husband is so open to using donor sperm. It's a big decision so take your time with it. Happy to help if you have any other questions.

Our first round was not successful so we'll be starting our second round probably early next year x

@Lcm11wondering how did it go with you?
I just had my second miscarriage ended at 20 weeks, had a very tough induced labour last week.

Now we are back to 0, and seriously considering donor sperm. We started to look at other clinics other than Create/ABC.

Oh @Doralice I'm so sorry. I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. Sending you hugs. ❤️

We went with Care for our second round and used a different donor - I've been through stims & EC, just waiting for our first FET as I had to do a freeze all. Care been amazing so far, couldn't fault them. And we've had much better results with egg & embryo numbers this round. So I think a change of donor and clinic was definitely the right decision for us. X

thank you@Lcm11Doing this research is kind of giving me a bit more hope, it’s very hard for us to process the second miscarriage. But we came to realise if DH’s sperm is this bad, we will either have to go through another miscarriage/even stillbirth or have an unhealthy baby which he/she will suffer for their life. So donor is probably the best option for us.

Did you find the new donor on LSB or a different sperm bank? good to know a different clinic helps the process!

Good luck to your transfer!! I hope it works as smoothly as it can be for you!

It's a lot to process especially when you've been through so much with your previous rounds. But we are at a point now where we feel really happy with our decision to use donor sperm, and I'm sure you will get there too.

Our first donor was through LSB and the second donor was via Semovo. Both banks were great. X

I’m so glad to hear you feel happy and positive about your decision! I hope we can get there too!

We are looking at European SB, as DH is European. But it seems hard to find someone who looks like him, how did you choose?

Do you know if IUI can be an option with donor sperm? Just don’t want to go through another egg collection.

(sorry if I asked too many questions)

We decided on some key characteristics like height, hair colour & eye colour that were important to us and helped us filter our search. Then we largely went off the letter the donors wrote - we wanted someone who seemed kind & keen to connect with our future child when they're 18 (if this is what the child would like).

Yes IUI is definitely an option with donor sperm. You might find it really helpful to join the Donor Conception Network - there is a WhatsApp chat I'm part of and lots of the couples in there have used IUI and I'm sure they would be happy to chat with you about it. Xx

Thank you so much, it’s so helpful! We will have a look at the Donor Conception network!