Nashville Fertility

Donor Sperm Screening

Donor sperm screening is an important step on a patient’s path to parenthood

Comprehensive donor sperm screening helps patients at our Tennessee fertility center use sperm that increases their chance of conceiving. Doctors often recommend the use of donor sperm for men with genetic issues or certain fertility challenges. It can also help single women and lesbian couples. This effective fertility option often results in patients bringing home a healthy baby.

The thorough process of donor sperm screening

When a patient decides to move forward with donor sperm, our Tennessee fertility center connects them with a reputable sperm bank that performs comprehensive screening.

Preliminary evaluation. Sperm donors provide a medical and genetic history for themselves and their family members.

Infectious agent evaluation. Donors receive testing to ensure they don’t have conditions like chlamydia, mycoplasma, hepatitis and HIV.

Medical and genetic evaluation. Each sperm donor undergoes a complete physical examination. Donors also receive a comprehensive genetic evaluation that can detect whether they have genetic or chromosomal issues.

Semen analysis. A specialist analyzes donor sperm for pH, count, motility, morphology, viability, abnormalities and white blood cells.

Post-acceptance testing. Before an embryologist utilizes donor sperm to fertilize eggs from a female patient or egg donor a specialist retests sperm to confirm its health. Most sperm banks also retest the sperm donor for HIV-1 & 2 and HTLV-I&II every six-months.

Because each sperm bank can vary in their donor sperm screening protocol, we recommend patients confirm the donor screening process at any sperm bank they consider using.

What happens when patients are ready to use donor sperm

After the patient selects a sperm donor, they can move forward with using the sperm. This process begins with a lab specialist thawing the donor sperm and testing it to confirm it’s still of high quality. Next, the specialist washes the sperm with a special solution to prepare it for use.

IUI with donor sperm. Female patients with a healthy uterus and good ovarian reserve can often utilize IUI with donor sperm. This process consists of the woman monitoring her ovulation and coming to our clinic the day after ovulation likely occurs. The fertility doctor then injects the donor sperm into the woman’s uterus.

Donor sperm IVF. Patients using donor sperm during an IVF cycle at our Tennessee fertility center will utilize eggs from the female patient. After the doctor retrieves the eggs, they send them to the lab where an embryologist fertilizes the eggs with the donor sperm. Then, the doctor transfers a resulting embryo into the uterus of the female patient or a gestational surrogate.

Because of donor sperm screening, patients can rest assured they’re utilizing high-quality sperm that gives them the best chance of building a healthy family. Contact us for more information about our fertility services.

(615) 321-4740