Donor Sperm

[Indadhanu]

Hi Amy,

My partner and I are using a sperm donor, we are going through a clinic though and not importing from overseas.

We looked at all the options... known donor, fertility clinic, australian sperm donor registry, overseas sperm donor...

We found going through a clinic to be the safest and cheapest to be honest...

When you import sperm from overseas you have to pay a fair bit... and firstly you have to check if your state allows you to import the sperm, i know Victoria (and I think S.A. ad W.A.) have restrictions. You then have to pay for the sperm, which is usually around $200-400 per vial (one insemination) depending on if you get washed or unwashed sperm, and shipping the sperm to you, which usually starts from about $250 for most companies. You also have to be careful as most times you are required to ship the container back again at your own expense, which is another cost. And also, once the sperm reaches Austraian waters, you can be required to pay duties and taxes to get it into Australia, which is not covered in most sperm bank fee's. And then you have to be really careful to store the sperm until it is ready to be used, and really REALLY careful when it comes to insemination. Also, most times when you import the sperm you are doing an at-home insemination, which usually means DIY vaginal insemination, and one wrong slip and the sperm can shoot across the room! If you are getting a clinic to import the spem, youthen have to pay the clinic for the procedure and storage... One insemination usually costs over $1000 (or thats what we worked out when we worked out fees, shipping etc).

We chose a fertility clinic because it costs us $1000, but we get $800 back on medicare. We get fertilty medication, HCG trigger, regular scans to monitor the egg, and an IUI procedure included in the cost... it worked out better for us... each cycle actually costs us $200... and the stress of storing the sperm, monitoring fertility, and making sure the procedure is done right and at the right time is lifted from us.

I'm not trying to change your mind, just giving you the facts... sometimes it is necessary to import the sperm, especially considering the lack of sperm donors in australia.