Could YOU help us make dreams of starting a family come true?
Sperm Donation
The Shropshire and Mid Wales Fertility Centre is appealing for men who are aged between 18 and 45-years-old and who want to help others, to become sperm donors.
For many people, using donated sperm is the only chance they have of fulfilling their dream to have a family. There are many reasons why people use donated sperm. Around half of all cases where couples are unable to get pregnant naturally are sperm-related. This is usually because the man isn’t producing enough sperm or the sperm is of low quality – but it can also be a side effect of treatments for conditions such as cancer. Some men with serious inherited diseases in their family may want to use donated sperm to avoid passing the disease onto their children; while women in same sex couples and single women will also need donor sperm to have a family.
Donating sperm is an incredible altruistic gift. Donors have no legal rights or parental responsibilities for children born from a donation as long as they donate through a Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) licenced UK fertility clinic like the Shropshire and Mid Wales Fertility Centre.
Sperm donors should be non-smokers, in general good health and will normally be aged between 18 and 41-years-old, however, in some rare cases, the clinic might allow an older donor to donate their sperm if they feel there are unlikely to be any serious consequences. Donors must be able to commit to regular, expenses paid trips to the clinic over the course of a few months.
Donors will also need to have various health tests for diseases like HIV and Hepatitis, which can take up to six months. They will be asked to provide some personal information. Some non-identifying information will be available to the hopeful parents at the time of donation, while identifying information will be available to any children conceived with a donation when they reach 18-years-old.
If you are interested and wish to discuss further please contact our Sperm donor recruitment co-ordinator Amy Henderson – on 01743 261202 option 3 or email sth-tr.shropshireivf@nhs.net
For more information please visit the HFEA Sperm Donation page
Egg Donation
There are many reasons why a couple may be unable to conceive naturally and sometimes the recommended treatment would be to use eggs donated by another woman. Eggs can be donated by someone the patient knows, but most often eggs that have been donated altruistically by an anonymous donor are used. An altruistic donor is someone who donates their eggs voluntarily through their own good will in order to give an infertile couple the chance of parenthood.
We very much welcome enquiries from women who are considering donating their eggs, we almost always have patients on our list who are waiting for an anonymous, volunteer donor to come forward. Egg donation is not a decision to be made lightly and we encourage those with an interest to contact us, without any obligation, to ensure they have all the information they need to make an informed choice.
Eggs donors must be 35 years of age or younger and be willing to screened for a variety of diseases and inherited conditions. There is no guarantee of acceptance, but those that are will be compensated for their expenses up to maximum of £985 and will be carefully counselled to ensure they are fully informed in all respects.
If you’d like to speak to one of our nurses please call 01743 261202 and select option 2. Our egg donation co-ordinator is Sister Yvonne Doonan.
For more information please visit the HFEA egg Donation page