Men: Have you ever donated to a sperm bank?

I thought about it in my younger days, but I think they want a boat load of personal information (understandable), which I was uncomfortable giving. I do think it would be kind of fun however ... show up, be escorted to a room, given a cup, and proceed to masturbate yourself (hoping for a "hit"). I'm sure the nurses "talk" among themselves.

No. Potential liability is too great. I read a few months ago about a donor who was held liable for child support after the woman who received his sperm had a baby, then later got divorced, and the court ordered the donor to pay child support to a woman he'd never met.

After vasectomy in 1991, I had nothing to donate anyway.

Http://www.cracked.com/article_19497_6-terrifying-things-nobody-tells-you-about-donating-sperm.html

Interested in sperm donation now after this read?

When I was young and not married I had heard of sperm donation. It did not interest me at all. I have chosen not to have children so donating sperm for the purpose of creating a baby was never a consideration.

But I did hear that there were medical or research studies that needed sperm and they were paying guys for it. I think it may have been for the development of spermicide that was ultimately brought to market as a birth control supplement. That kind of interested me since they would pay you to JO- what not's to like about that deal. But then I heard that you had to space your ejaculations so that when you provided your sample your sperm count would be high. You could not JO in between your sample donations.

Well that kind of killed it for me since I was JO off too much to be a paid sperm provider.

We have had a case in Topeka recently where a man donated his sperm to a lesbian couple who had a baby. He had a written contract saying he would have no responsibility for the child. Later, the couple divorced, or at least split, and the state went after him for child support. I think that the case is still in the appeal process. I feel for the poor man who was only trying to be helpful, to do someone a good turn.

hankb

I looked into it to the extent of providing a sample for testing. They would only sign you on if you had a high count and high mobility, at least at the clinic in my college town. I was high in one of those categories but only moderate in the other - can't remember which now. They told you up front that they only accepted about 10% (I think it was) of the applicants.

But, they paid you for the initial testing, so I did have the experience of reporting for duty, going into the room, etc. I was pretty mortified (about 21 or 22 yo at the time), but the nurses were very professional - to the point of seeming completely uninterested.

My only similar experience was recent. I had to provide a post-vasectomy sample to confirm that the procedure had been successful. In that instance though, they let you, ahem, "produce" the sample at home. So, it was slightly less embarrassing to simply deliver a brown paper bag to a nurse manning the intake desk at the lab.

Never ... For all the reasons discussed above +.Medfedguy's link clearly demonstrates--Biased, Intrusive, Discrimanatory & Racist

Never...For all the reasons discussed above +.Medfedguy's link clearly demonstrates--Biased,Intrusive,Discrimanatory & Racist

I disagree.

The donor ISN'T a "donor" doing it for free and the sperm bank has to store it at a cost. Do you want the father of your child to be a drug using, cigarette smoking, mentally unstable, sickly gang member, failure in life who has homicidal tendencies?

The donors are paid and the sperm bank wants to ensure they are paying for a good product. They don't discriminate by color. Not all people who want to obtain sperm need a white father. Why should the sperm bank pay for, store and protect "deposits" as they call them, from men whose medical, physical, educational, family and social histories have characteristics that are not appealing to women or couples who would be paying for it? You can always bank your own sperm for yourself, but YOU will be the one making the payments.

I would certainly want a sperm donor who was tall, dark (or blond) and handsome with brains and a good family history. When you go to the food store, do you buy damaged fruit and smelly fish or do you look for the good stuff?

Let's make it less personal than your DNA and intelligence. If you owned a used car lot, would you want an old beat up car with high exhaust emissions, rust, cracked glass and a transmission leak on your lot? As the car dealer, would you buy a car like that so you could place it on your lot and then hope someone wants to buy it? How could you even sell a car in such bad condition and hope to recoup your investment? It would take up space that could be used for merchandise that you could sell.

The prospective parents are doing the same thing. They are making a purchase and the sperm bank (the store) only wants to carry good merchandise.

Can't say I have. Besides, I found out I have "Homer Simpson" sperm. They swim in circles, bumping heads with other sperm, going "DOH!" Lucky one found its target and the results were amazing.

http://youtu.be/eJEU8UKMXTs

Not entirely on subject, but I had bouts of chronic prostatitis just after college and my urologist suggested I make a semen deposit to be safe, in case I wanted kids, which I did. We lived in CT so he gave me address in NYC and I took the train down like my dad did every day. It was a very normal looking business front in a nice building in midtown Manhattan, with carpeting and a bunch of comfortable chairs and sofas. There were some couples as well as unaccompanied men like me. There was a requirement for I think at least three days without ejaculation between samples. After the first, I was told to come back twice more to leave enough sample material for adequate storage and use for insemination. They told me my count was low but usable. This was back around 1975-6. I'd have to look up my records but there was a monthly storage fee after whatever the initial setup fee was. I kept my sperm there continuously until about 1994-5 after my first son was born. Interestingly, I had another semen analysis done at the medical school where I was working just before we tried to make my first son, and it was still low with a fair number of abnormal cells. However, both of my wife's pregnancies with my sons took us almost no time after starting to try. I finally had the sperm bank discard my samples after my son was born. Expensive, but worth every penny, just in case. Like another poster said, the results are amazing - one looks just like me and my Dad and his Dad, and the other younger boy looks just like my wife and her mother and her Grandfather.

After re-reading the linked article (post #3) why would anyone even think of bothering...too many pitfalls to navigate.

1) Tall dark n handsome (or blonde) with "Ivy League" history guarantees nothing /zip/zilch......And no one has ever met "some" of these types that have their head so far up their arse.....plain rude/ignorant/full of their own self importance....lazy,self indulgent,big headed oafs

2) The reference to red heads or "Gingers" is in poor taste & discriminatory based on colour...So best to filter them out ??...To endorse such an idiotic stance is objectionable.

3) Dark skinned peoples...so I guess they are not intelligent ....because that is how it reads....As if to suggest they are second class citizens....Again WTF.

On the matter of height : Albert Einstein @ & 5'7&1/2"..Stephen Hawking @ 5'7" tall (father to 3 children) & Leonard Susskind @ 5'9&1/2 all of which do make a mockery of height being in someway directly related to intelligence--rubbish to suggest such.

Then there's the question of why 4 generations...suppose that's to iron out any throwbacks...Could it also be they know a lot more than they are prepared to tell....that economical with the truth thing--tell em nothing& keep them in the dark...Just in case the s**t hits the fan.

Some of the finest have come from nothing....had nothing....been given nothing....had limited formal education....yet rose to meet lifes challenges... overcome obstacles....rose to carve out superb careers....built their futures on the smell of an oily rag so to speak ... .gone on to become successes as true humanitarians....philanthropists....mentors to society's less fortunate....in other words the salt of the earth.

It's a business plain n simple...supply & demand....At the mentioned cost of $41,000 that's a good return...as for storage cost that would be minimal as vacuum sealed liquid nitrogen flasks store literally dozens of vials in tiers.

Sperm storage success rate nigh on dismal : www.hfea.gov.uk/74.html

On the subject of "Donations" that in itself is a misnomer...Namely said donor is PAID a fee of $125...in effect for services rendered!! what happens thereafter can become a minefield....A legal one at that,full of potential risk for the unwary....Likely odds are that during the course of the proceedings not once would there be any hint of any long term negative repercussions financially...And you could bet the last buck that they have a vested interest in DNA technology...Their legal representatives would see to that.

Quincy's post #2 "Potential liability is too great"--that I agree with.

That may be how the article sounds, but the sperm banks don't want to be responsible for a "bad seed" literally or figuratively. Besides, who wants a poor quality donor and why should an ugly idiot felon be paid the same for his sperm as a good looking brainy businessman or physician?

What's wrong with tall dark (or blond) and handsome with brains? As I said before, not everyone wants or needs a white donor. There are plenty of bright people of various skin colors. There is also a supply and demand consideration for people of various colors. In Montana, a sperm bank would likely have an almost all white clientele, whereas in New York, there would also be more Asian, Hispanic and Black donors who meet the necessary criteria.

There are no guarantees, but if you want a good final product, you don't start with shit for raw materials.

I admit to being very strong on the eugenic side of the nature/nurture scale of things. After all, when your child learns the alphabet and numerals at 12 months and to read at three by listening to music while following the English sung opera libretti, my husband (more than me, but I'm not so bad myself) can claim full genetic responsibility for the success because there is nothing nurture or society can do to make that sort of stuff happen. Bad nurture can probably wreck a good kid, but one that shows great promise very young is the result of his genes, and that is why sperm banks are selective.

Once again, why should sperm banks pay someone for their semen?????? The potential donor may think it is special, but everybody thinks theirs is special, so I have to say that is bullshit.

When an arborist or horticulturalist wants to make a hybrid, they cross the plants that have the best characteristics. Why would anyone want to start with less when the goal is to reproduce a human.

Oh ! I know what you mean there Switchablesusie...Selective breeding.

Even if you do take DNA analysis there is still no guarantee...for instance if a person is exposed to asbestos fibre leading to mesothelioma or say low level radiation leak through their employment & later succumbs as a result...that cannot be detected in the early phases of subsequent disease....DNA is not infallible.

I am weirded out by the way this thread is going. I understand the need for sperm banks but the reality of getting a strangers genetic material is strange to me. I guess it's a big surprise. Another one of those new fangled inventions which boggle the mind.

Oh ! I know what you mean there Switchablesusie...Selective breeding.

Even if you do take DNA analysis there is still no guarantee......DNA is not infallible.

Go back and read the first sentence in the third paragraph of my last post. What are the first four words? . . . . Go ahead, I'll wait. . . .

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"There are no guarantees. . . .

Liquidsky, do egg donors freak you out also?

They are a big help to women/couples who need it.

Potential liability is too great. I read a few months ago about a donor who was held liable for child support after the woman who received his sperm had a baby, then later got divorced, and the court ordered the donor to pay child support to a woman he'd never met.

There is something very wrong with that ruling. The woman and her (ex) husband should be liable.

Entire post read...with interest.

Fertility program (link below) provides full disclosure,including scale of fees applicable...rebates...legal rights & obligations in relation to ivf cell /donor sperm programs....Most info contained therein is mandatory by law....Non disclosure forfeits the right to hold licence.

www.ivf.com.au/fertility-treatment/donor-program/require-a-sperm-donor#some-other-things-to-consider

Actually I'm not weirded out by either sperm or egg donors. I think it's wonderful. I'm weirded out by that ruling about child support. What a draconian decision that was.

Liquidsky--So right on that count...Very poor judgement...Such rulings need serious address...amendments made with absolute watertight legislation at a federal level so all states & territories abide by the one ruling....including a "no right" of appeal clause...If / should that be achieved then the obstacle of appellate courts are removed.

https://aifs.gov.au/publications/families-policy-and-law/9-secrecy-family-relationships-and-welfare-children-born

^^^^ From your link, "Under current NSW law, a child born from donated sperm is deemed to be the child of the birth mother. Donors are under no legal or financial obligation to the child."

That makes sense. I can't imagine it being different in the US. The ruling quincy mentioned is very unfair, unusual and possibly was rendered by one of the majority of judges that could be paid off to make such a ruling in a divorce. Judges in family and especially divorce court are as a rule, very corrupt.

Another good thread debated & abandoned over 7 years ago

Where would the Roe v Wade decision stand in this

Comment ?

The process is no more “racist” or “discriminating” than a woman choosing a man with particular features (tall, handsome, well-educated, etc.) to be a mate and potential father to her children.

Aside from all the moral and legal boredoms around this😅 what I'd really like to know is…do they give you any “material” to …erm…help you along with your donation?😅

@Laura_L asks

Aside from all the moral and legal boredoms around this😅 what I'd really like to know is…do they give you any “material” to …erm…help you along with your donation?😅

Yes Laura . . . “Hard”as it maybe, one is offered a little visual stimulation to achieve an out-cum😁

I get a laugh out of the redundancy in the thread title….

@Laura_L

I've never donated to a sperm bank but have been required to provide a specimen on a number of occasions, and yes they do normally provide some suitable “material” to assist you in the process…

What kind of thing?…I'd hate to think what porn on the NHS would be like😅 Tbh, if I worked there I'd just point out that you have a smart phone..I'm sure you can find something.

What kind of thing?…I'd hate to think what porn on the NHS would be like😅 Tbh, if I worked there I'd just point out that you have a smart phone..I'm sure you can find something.

I had heard (no personal experience) that back in the 70' and 80's (before smartphones) they had some Playboy/Hustler type magazines in the donation rooms. Only problem was the pages were stuck together!

I wonder what the staff would tell me if I told them something along the lines of, “Er, you wouldn't happen to have some material depicting women crying as they're being spanked or penetrated anally, would you?”

Or what they would think.

. o O (Gosh I hope this sick bastard's infertile.)