The financial challenges faced by many students, along with man’s more primal urges, may entice many young men to consider donating their sperm.

But those expecting to stroll into the nearest sperm bank, have a discreet encounter with a plastic cup, and go cash their check may find the process more complicated than they thought.

Potential donors at any of the several clinics in the Bay Area will have to undergo thorough medical testing before their sperm is accepted for donor use, and are expected to commit to a regular schedule for weekly donations that can last up to a year.

At the Sperm Bank of California, which bills itself as the only non-profit bank in the United States, potential donors must go through a six- to eight-week process of screening and testing, both on themselves and their samples, before being accepted as donors. Donors at this facility, unlike some others, have the option of allowing their offspring to contact them once they reach adult age.

Rainbow Flag Health Services in Alameda actively recruits gay and bisexual donors, and releases their identities to biological mothers when the child is 3 months old. Many donors have an “uncle-type” relationship with their offspring.

The Sperm Bank of California, which operates from a discreet, clinical facility in downtown Berkeley, requires a full family medical history along with extensive testing for sexually transmitted diseases and other health conditions. Once accepted, donors are asked to make at least one deposit a week for a year-long period.

And while some men may carry preconceived notions about their virility, many potential donors are screened out because their sperm counts are not high enough, according to Alice Ruby, the bank’s executive director.

“Some of our donors are screened out with their first phone call,” Ruby said. “They may have issues in their personal medical history or family history that would disqualify them, and we can save them a lot of time that way.”

Men interested in donating first fill out a basic application, with questions about eye and hair color, basic family medical history, and personal medical and sexual history. They then provide several samples in order to establish a sperm count. Donors are asked to abstain from sex or masturbation between two and five days before giving a sample to get the highest count.

Determining a sperm count is a critical step, Ruby said, because 50 to 80 percent of the sperm in an ejaculate do not survive the freezing process. While most men have high enough counts to conceive naturally, not all of them could be successful sperm donors.

“It’s really hard to get men into the program who have a high enough count to survive freezing,” Ruby said.

If their count is sufficient, donors then must provide a detailed family history, with information about cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other medical issues, all the way back to their grandparents. They undergo testing for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis and genital warts, genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell anemia, and receive a full physical exam, all paid for by the sperm bank.

The medical screening process is similar at other clinics, including Rainbow Flag Health Services and Pacific Reproductive Services in San Francisco.

Once approved, donors can make up to $80 per sample at various clinics. The Sperm Bank of California pays a $200 bonus to donors who complete their commitment and an exit interview.
Most banks ask for weekly deposits because it can take as many as eight inseminations for a woman to become pregnant, Ruby said.

Recipients can learn how to inseminate themselves through training offered at the sperm bank, or have the procedure performed in a clinic. A single vial of sperm can cost around $200, depending on whether it has undergone a process called “washing,” where chemicals in semen that can cause the uterus to contract and expel sperm are removed.

With the Sperm Bank of California’s Identity Release Program, donors can choose to allow the children bore of their sperm to learn a donor’s name, birth date, and contact information once they turn 18.
“Some doctors and therapists [used to] actually counsel parents to lie to their children about their identity,” Ruby said. “Since [our clientele] are already following alternative paths to becoming parents, it made sense to offer this choice to them, so they could be honest with their children.”

Ruby stressed that the program is not designed to impose parent-child relationships on donors and offspring. Many children conceived through donation are simply curious about their genetic history, and the characteristics that their biological parents passed on to them.

“They’re not looking for a father,” Ruby said. “Most of them are doing that soul searching that we all do about who we are.”

The first generation of children born under the Identity Release Program turned 18 in 2001, Ruby said, and about 20 percent of them have expressed interest in learning about their biological fathers. She said the sperm bank’s work had resulted in some 1,650 births since 1982. Individual donors may father no more than 10 children, a limit Ruby said is rarely met.

The sperm bank is very protective of its donors’ rights and confidentiality, Ruby said. California Family Code states that donors have no legal rights or responsibilities for children conceived from their donations.

Donors are categorized in the sperm bank’s catalog by ethnic background, eye and hair color, height and weight. Anonymous profiles, written by the donors, provide information about their careers, education levels, interests and talents, as well as their reasons for becoming donors.

“I simply want to help those without the ability to (become pregnant on their own),” one donor, described as English, Italian and Lithuanian, with “fair, creamy” skin and “dark, thick, curly” hair, writes in his profile. “I have several lesbian friends who have spoken to me and shared their willingness to have a child of their own.

“The spare cash is a definite perk at this time as well,” adds the donor.

Depending on their physical characteristics, personal information and educational background, some donors can become more popular, with waiting lists of several months.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be having children of my own,” writes another donor. “This is a way for me to pass down my genetic legacy. Also, it will probably prove to be my best job ever.”

Most banks stringently enforce their confidentiality rules, so specific information on what percentages of donors are students is not available. But in their anonymous profiles, many donors at local facilities indicate that they are currently pursuing degrees from computer science to art history.

Becoming a Sperm Donor

Potential donors:
- Should be in good general health, free from genetic and sexually transmitted diseases.
- Must undergo a full physical exam and blood test.
- Must provide a detailed family medical history.
- Are expected to donate a sample once a week for 6 months-1 year, and abstain from sex and masturbation for 2-5 days before each sample is given.
- Can make $200-$4000 a year if chosen to be a donor.
- Have no parental rights – or obligations – under California family law.

Bay Area Sperm Banks

Pacific Reproductive Services – San Francisco
http://www.hellobaby.com
Phone (510) 841-1858

The Sperm Bank of California - Berkeley
http://www.thespermbankofca.org
Phone: (510) 841-1858

Rainbow Flag Health Services - Alameda
http://www.gayspermbank.com
(510) 521-7737

Sources: The Sperm Bank of California, Rainbow Flag Health Services, Pacific Reproductive Services