Need a Sperm Donor?

For some individuals, the utilisation of donor sperm serves as their only option for creating a family. As the pioneering and longest-standing donor bank in Australia, Melbourne IVF is committed to assisting you every step of the way during your donor journey.

There are two options: clinic-recruited donor sperm, where Melbourne IVF selects the donor, and recipient-recruited donor sperm, where the recipient couple or woman finds their own donor.

Who can use donated sperm?

Treatment with donor sperm may be required to help you achieve your dream of having a baby if you are a:

  • Woman in a same sex and gender diverse couple,
  • Single woman, or
  • Heterosexual couple with severe male factor infertility (usually total absence of sperm production) or a history of serious genetic or medical disorder

Who can be a sperm donor?

Healthy men between 23 and 45 years of age may be recruited by Melbourne IVF as clinic donors. Known sperm donors are assessed for suitability on an individual basis.

Treatment options using donor sperm

Treatment with donor sperm may be by intrauterine insemination (IUI) or IVF with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). The recommended treatment will depend on your circumstances, the quality and amount of sperm available for use, and any previous treatments.

The IUI procedure involves insertion of sperm through the cervix at the time of the woman’s ovulation. When using donor sperm the frozen sperm sample will be thawed just prior to the IUI procedure.

IVF using donor sperm is recommended if IUI treatment has not resulted in pregnancy, where the sperm quality is inadequate for IUI, where there is only a small amount of suitable sperm stored, or otherwise where medically indicated.

All IVF cycles using clinic-recruited donor sperm involve the use of IVF with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) 

Read more about treatment options for single women 
Learn more about treatment available for same-sex couples 

  • donor program

    If you decide to access sperm through our clinic recruited Donor Programme, you will be given access to the Melbourne IVF website which holds a database of all the donors that are currently available to choose from.

  • Donor profile

    You can view each Donor’s profile and a range of other attributes such as their hair colour, nationality, height, and occupation. You can also view questionnaires that have been completed by the donors about themselves and their family, and a message about why they have decided to make this altruistic gift.

     

  • sperm donor slider

    Once you have had one child using a de-identified sperm donor, we will endeavour to assist you in having further children with the same donor by retaining sufficient samples to ensure future access.