Faq

Links:
Five easy steps
Donors
Miscellaneous
Shipping
Purchasing/online orders

Five easy steps

Step1: Check our donor list for your favourite donors
Examine our donor list and select several donors who possess the characteristics you seek and rank them in order of preference. We recommend ordering as early as you can to improve your chances of getting your first choice.

Step 2: Purchase information on your favourite donor
When you have decided on your favourite donors you can purchase detailed information to review their 4 generation family medical history, listen to their voices, see baby photos and learn about their personalities and our staffs impressions of the donors.

Step3: Place an order for donor sperm
Once you have decided on a donor you should order the specimens as early as possible. It is easy to order donor sperm online - please follow this link. You can pay by credit card including Visa and Mastercard. If, however, you wish to pay by International Bank Transfer, please contact info@europeanspermbank.com.

Step 4: Arrange shipping
We ship to any worldwide destination. However, delivery can only take place to a physician or other authorized medical persons or institutions approved for treatment with donor semen. Payment is required prior to shipping.

Step 5: Storage
If you wish to make sure that sperm from your favourite is available for purchase, you can reserve sperm and store it at our facility until needed. A storage account ranges from a minimum 12 months to 10 years. If you wish to set up a storage account, please contact info@europeanspermbank.com directly.

DONORS

-What information is available on our donors?
You'll be pleased to know that we have made the process of choosing a donor as simple and convenient as possible.  You can browse our donor list and purchase in-depth information on all of our donors. 

1. Donor List

Our donor list which includes a short summary of our donors features and education can be accessed for free by following this link.

2. Donor Profile

Furthermore all of our donors also have a long profile which can be purchased online. The donor profile includes general information, educational/occupational background, personal characteristics, fertility history, 4 generation family medical history, interests, hobbies and future plans and dreams.

3. Baby Photo

The European Sperm Bank also offer baby photographs of donors available for purchase online.

4. Kiersey Test

All our donors are personality tested. The results are available for purchase online. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) is a self-assessed personality questionnaire. To read more about the test please go to: www.kiersey.com for more information.

5. Audio Interview

Listen to the voice of your favourite donor in an audio interview. These sound files are available for immediate download for a fee.

6. Staff Impression

For a fee you can access our staffs impressions on our donors. This way you get a first hand impression of our donors from the people who see them on a regular basis.
Or how about easy unlimited access to all donors including all products mentioned above, you can purchase unlimited access to all donor information for 90 days by clicking here.

-Do donor applicants undergo a comprehensive screening process?
Yes. All of our donor applicants do undergo an extensive screening process - for detailed information on tests and screenings carried out on all donors, please follow this link.
Our screening guidelines meet and exceed the EU screening requirements for sperm donors. Furthermore, we adhere to the Danish Ministry of Health's screening guidelines as well as several international organization's screening guidelines. Note that we are the only European Sperm Bank to screen all of our sperm donors for Cystic Fibrosis (a genetic disease with a carrier frequency of 3-4%).

-Do you quarantine samples prior to release?
Sperm is cryopreserved to allow for retesting of a variety of diseases. This means that freshly collected sperm must be stored for a minimum of six months before repeat testing. Repeat testing includes HIV 1 & 2 antibodies, HTLV I & II antibodies, hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B core antibody, hepatitis C, RPR, TP-PA and cytomegalovirus antibodies. Donors are also tested for Chlamydia and gonorrhea.

-How many of your initial applicants actually become donors?
Through thorough testing and screening, only 5-10% of all applicants are actually accepted into our donor corps.

-Who are the donors?
Donors are ordinary, physically healthy men from a broad cross section of society whose ages range from 18-39 years. Many of them are students from institutions of higher education. They receive only small remuneration for donation and it is believed that they are genuine in their wish to help others. Most of our donors are Danish (Caucasian) born but we also have donors from other ethnic groups.

-Why do they choose to donate?
Through close contacts with our donors, we realise that donating to help childless people is the overall reason for donating sperm. Our donors also receive a small financial remuneration for their time. 

-Do you set a quality standard for your donors?
We guarantee that only good quality samples are sold for inseminations. We have a post-thaw quality standard of a minimum of 20 million highly motile spermatozoa per milliliter.

-What is an open donor contrary to an anonymous donor?
When an applicant is accepted as donor, he may choose to be an anonymous donor or an open identity (ID) donor. When children born from the sperm of open donors turn 18, they may apply to the European Sperm Bank to obtain contact with their biological fathers.  The contact can not be obtained by anyone but the child and never before the child reaches the age of 18, and only upon the child's request.  For anonymous donors, the donor cannot be contacted by the recipient or the child. Furthermore both anonymous and open ID donors are not allowed to receive information about the identity of the recipient or the child at any time. An anonymous or open ID donor has no paternal rights to a child born as a result of treatment of a woman using his sperm.
Using sperm from open donors is attractive to some parents who wish to provide a means for their children conceived through insemination to learn more about their biological fathers, should they wish to at some point in the future.
It is important to note that open donors, like anonymous donors, are legally absolved of all legal responsibilities for children born from their sperm.

-Should I be concerned about the donor's blood type?
The donor's blood type may be medically important to consider if the mother is Rh negative (Rh-). They may develop antibodies to a fetus that is Rh positive but it is also important to remember that children do not always inherit the same blood type as their biological parents. For example, a couple with blood types A and B could have an offspring with any of the four blood types: A, B, O, or AB. Please keep in mind that if you choose to use the blood type of a donor as one of your selection criteria, you will decrease the number of donor choices available to you.

-What is CMV and how does it affect me?
CMV is a virus within the herpes group of viruses all of which tend to remain dormant in the body after an initial infection. CMV can be transmitted through urine, saliva, mucus, cervical secretions, semen, blood or breast milk.
In order to detect if a person has been exposed to CMV, a blood sample is tested for anti-bodies to the virus. Two classes of antibodies are checked for, IgG and IgM. The IgG class of antibody indicates if the individual has ever been exposed to the virus in his or her lifetime and built antibodies against the virus. If a person tests positive for the IgM class of antibody it is an indicator of a recent or current infection and indicates a higher likelihood of that person shedding virus in body fluids at that time. There are no donors used who check CMV IgM positive.
You may wish to consult with your medical practitioner as to whether he or she feels it is acceptable to use a donor who is positive for CMV IgG antibodies. Given our screening process, we presume that our donors who are positive for CMV IgG antibodies are non-infectious for CMV. Furthermore, our six-month quarantine policy ensures that should a donor test positive for a current or recent infection, we would destroy all his potentially infectious samples before they were ever released to recipients.

-Which units of measurement do you use?
We mainly use centimeters for height and kilograms for weight.

• 1" = 2,54 cm and 1' = 30,48 cm - 100 centimeters equals 3' 3" (examples: 183cm=6' 0'' and 178cm=5' 10'').
• Pounds/lbs = kg x 2.2 (10 kilograms/kg equals 22 pounds). So 80 kg equals 176 pounds/lbs. 1 stone equals 14 pounds or 6.4 kg.

Miscellaneous

-What do IUI and ICI mean?
IUI-ready sperm have been processed (washed). Before cryopreservation, the sperm are separated from the seminal fluid and the fluid is replaced with a preservative fluid; this fluid replacement is the so-called "washing" process. This method places washed semen directly into the uterus by passing a catheter through the cervical canal. More sperm cells can reach the uterus and consequently more sperm is available for fertilization. Washing the sperm cells is necessary since otherwise prostaglandins in the seminal fluid could cause the uterus to cramp, expelling the sperm and causing pain. Proper timing of insemination is important with IUI.

ICI (intracervical insemination): These specimens contain raw semen which can be used for IVF cycles, vaginal or intracervical inseminations only unless they are washed after thawing by a doctor/nurse. These specimens hold all of the naturally occuring ejaculate fluid and cells. There will still be plenty of motile sperm, but dead sperm as well. Cervix and cervical fluid will only let the highly motile sperm cells up into the uterus and fallopian tubes, just as it would through intercourse.
Before placing your order it is best to consult your physician with regards to whether IUI-ready sperm or ICI sperm should be ordered. Both IUI-ready sperm and ICI can be used for IVF.

-How can I be certain that you will have sperm available from my favourite donor?
The inventory of samples from a given donor changes on a daily basis as specimens are shipped from and added to our stock. Donors may also be "retired" or leave the program. If you have selected a donor and feel strongly about using him exclusively until you become pregnant - or if you would like to have other children using the same donor - you can pre-purchase specimens to guarantee their availability when you need them.

-What type of storage options do you offer if I want to purchase and store sperm for a particular donor?
Once you have ordered sperm, we will need to ship the sperm ASAP or we can also offer you storage terms for storage accounts ranging from 12 months to 10 years. Purchasing units to put into a storage account is a great way to ensure that vials from the donor you have selected are available for both current and future cycles. Please see the menues donor list and fees for information on storage pricing options.

SHIPPING

-Do you ship worldwide?
Yes, we ship to any worldwide destination. The only requirement is that delivery only takes place to a physician or other authorized medical persons or institutions approved for treatment with donor semen.

-How is the sperm shipped?
Each unit of semen is shipped frozen in a straw. Straws are specifically made for safe cryo storage of human semen in liquid nitrogen and nitrogen vapour. The straws are are welded on each end to keep the semen safe from contamination and tampering. Each straw is held in a visio tube clipped to a metal support rod (called a "cane") to facilitate straw removal from a refrigerated "tank" (or "dry shipper"). The tank is refrigerated with liquid nitrogen trapped in spongy material to prevent spillage, hence the name "dry shipper". The tank weighs 10 kilos and will hold storage temperature for a minimum of two weeks if left closed.

-How long can the specimens last in the holding tank?
The specimens can last in the holding tanks up to two weeks if left closed.

-What does the shipping cost include?
The shipping costs include shipment to your clinic and also include the return of the special shipping tank to our lab.

PURCHASING/ONLINE ORDERS

Ordering donor information online is easy and can be done by accessing the Donor List. Donor information ordered online are accessible immediately upon purchase. Once you have closed the link with donor information, you will need to purchase a new access to review the donor information.

-How do I order donor information online?

• Go to http://www.europeanspermbank.com
• Click on "Donor List" in the menu
• Examine our donor list.
• Select the donor who has the characteristics you seek by clicking the donor name
• On the left hand side, you will see "Donor Profile", "Baby Photo", "Kiersey Test", "Audio Interview", "Staff Impression" and "Unlimited Access to All Donors"
• Click on the "Add to cart" for each item you wish to buy
• All choosen items can be viewed by clicking "View cart". Correct if necessary
• When you are ready to complete the order, click "View cart" or "checkout"
• Follow the instructions for payment
• Once you have paid, you will receive an email with a link to follow for access to donor information purchased.

-How do I order sperm online?

• Follow steps 1-4 from answer above
• Add the number of units (ICI/IUI) you need
• Click on the "Add to cart"
• When you are ready to complete the order, click "View cart" or "checkout "
• Follow the instructions for submitting payment information. In the commets field, you can add any comment regarding your purchase.
• Once you have paid, you will receive an email with your order confirmation

-Can I return the specimens if not used?
No, we do not restock semen which has left our premises. The European Sperm Bank have full control over semen from the time of the donation until it leaves our premises. Once it leaves our facility, we are no longer certain of its history, so in good faith, it cannot be offered to professionals and their patients. However, The European Sperm Bank can store semen for your future use for a storage fee provided it has not left our premises.

-Can I pay by credit card?
Yes, you can pay by credit card including Visa and Mastercard. The purchase can also be paid by International Bank Transfer. If you wish to pay by International Bank Transfer, please contact info@europeanspermbank.com for more information.

-How do you make sure that my personal and credit card details remain confidential?
Reproduction is a very personal matter and we respect your desire for privacy. The information you share with us is held in strictest confidence, unavailable to anyone other than your health care professionals without your express permission. Your information will not be shared or sold to any other company or institution. Likewise, we respect donor privacy and releases information about the donors only with the donor's permission. 
We use it only to process your order. Your name, address, phone number, email address, credit card type, credit card number and billing/shipping address are required. The credit card companies want to make sure that only the owner is using the card, so they may not approve purchases where the information doesn't match.

-Which details are needed to place an order?

• Shipping address for licensed Physician/Clinic's name, address, email address and phone number
• Patient name, address, email address, phone number
• Credit card information

We will ship the units as soon as payment has been received or at a prior arranged date.

-Will I need a password to access donor list and purchasable donor information?
No you do not need a password to access donor list and purchasable donor information. Password is only needed if you have purchased unlimited access to all donors.

-I have forgotten my password for the unlimited access to all donors. Can it be retrieved?
Go to the menu "Login" and click "Lost password". We receive an email after you have entered your email address and clicked "submit"; the European Sperm Bank will then email you a new password.

-Is it safe to order online?
Your data are transmitted via an encrypted secure connection. This means that all personal information submitted via our secure connection will not be readable by anyone attempting to intercept the transmission. This ensures your security and privacy.

-Do I need to contact my physician prior to ordering sperm directly with you?
The European Spermbank requires that all patients be under the care of a health care professional

-Will I get an order confirmation?
Yes, you will receive a confirmation email. The email includes purchased items, the amount charged to your credit card and an order number.