How to get donor sperm in NSW??

[Thumbelina]

Hi

Looks like I am going to need donor sperm, but I've heard terrible things about its availability in NSW - that there are no donors anymore because of changed privacy laws. Is that true?

So how is it done? Where do I start? Is it expensive?

(I am really hoping to do it as close to naturally as possible, except without an actual penis . And no, I don't have a suitable friend - at least I don't want to go there if it can be avoided.)

[Deejoy17]

Thumbelina - I believe John hunter hospital is the place to go, I didn`t know until I heard them talking about it on the radio a few months ago.

Good luck

[dusty]

Thumbelina, I have just moved your post over to the donor support section. Good luck with your search!

[redlady]

Thumbalina,

Hi I have to be on a waiting list for sperm donor in the first IVF clinic I found. And yes there is a shortage because of changes to the law. The donor must agree to let the child find them if they want to at aged 18 or above. They have to go on a register, and by 1st January 2010 there will be no imported sperm from overseas either in NSW and VIC. This will be soon rolled out to include all of Australia.

We have found a second clinic that although it has a shortage it doesn't have a severe shortage. But they do not do IUI (insemination) they only do IVF.

And most clinics will want to only do a few IUI attempts and if you don't fall pregnant they will move to doing IVF.

I know that IUI you have to be exact with your fertile days too, you need to know your cycle inside and out.

I would go to the phone book or internet and look up IVF Clinics and start ringing them.

All the best
Redlady

[Thumbelina]

No more donor sperm imports, when there's next to none here??!!!! I'm horrified! So it's just "Sorry, as long as you live in Australia, we forbid you from reproducing"?!!!

I was totally relying on that. This is just horrifying. I can't afford IVF and wouldn't do that anyway. I certainly don't want to resort to casual sex with strangers every month. But this is literally life and death - my life goes on through my progeny, or it doesn't. It doesn't get more fundamental than that!

I'm not wealthy enough (or brave enough) to be a fertility tourist overseas. Why, why, why in heaven's name would Australia ban sperm imports for humans?! They are allowed for other species, and in every other country I'm aware of!

[Shades]

Calm down, you've got til January to use imported donors in NSW, and after that if still not pregnant you could try QLD until it gets banned there too.

[Beth-n-Sara]

I agree with shades, Getting donor sperm in qld is very easy and there is no shortage (at least not with QFG). Is it possible to travel interstate? Also If you have no other fertility problems then QFG have no problem doing continued IUI until you conceive and wont ask you to move on to IVF.
Good Luck

[Lieve]

Just regarding the importing of donor sperm - I checked with my clinic in Melbourne, and it's simply not true - nothing changes about importing donor sperm as of January 2010 - there's only an change in regulations around the 'migration' of embryos from state to state or overseas. The donor mgr at my clinic had heard nothing to suggest we could no longer import sperm from interstate or overseas - that was definitely not her understanding of the new laws. So, it appears there's some mis-understanding...or unfortunately, it might be that different clinics intepret the laws differently.???

[SD2001]

Hi all,

The new ART legislation is for NSW only. It comes into effect in January 2010, and it has a transition period for existing donors/recipients.

This new NSW ART legislation is the primary cause of the lack of donors in NSW. The irony is that past recipients/offspring who previously had the luxury and privilege of using "NSW donors" insisted on this legislation, which has resulted in the lack of donors in NSW, and now current recipient families have lost the choice of using a "NSW donor" as a result of the selfish actions of the past recipients/offspring who have already benefited from the generous nature of previous donors.

The new NSW ART legislation does not specifically ban importing sperm from overseas. Instead it has much tighter controls regarding what can be imported.

[redlady]

Sperm donors disappeared when the register came out. There were 150 men on the books in NSW. When the new law came out and they had to be on a register. Only 5 remained.

Men don't want children coming to them at aged 18yrs. Thats the only conclusion I can come to.

Redlady.