Finding the Right Donor

Rainbow Fertility operates a sperm donor program to give recipients (and their partners, if applicable) who need the assistance of donor sperm the opportunity to become a parent. Choosing a sperm donor is one of the first things an individual or couple undergoing fertility treatment with donor sperm will need to do.

Types of donors

Sperm donors are classified as either “known” or “unknown” depending on the type of relationship between donor and recipient.

• Known sperm donor – where the identity of the donor is known by the person undergoing treatment. Usually a friend or family member, they have an existing relationship with the recipient and their donated sperm will only be used by them.

• Clinic-recruited or unknown sperm donor – where the identity of the donor is not known to the person undergoing treatment. When a child is conceived this way, they will be able to access identifying information about the donor when they reach 18, or acquired sufficient maturity to appreciate the significance of the request (NHMRC 2007).

At Rainbow Fertility if you already have a “known” donor we will be happy to work with them. Alternatively, we have a large range of clinic-recruited donor sperm available with no wait times.

Finding and choosing clinic-recruited donor sperm

To help couples and individuals find their ideal donor, Rainbow Fertility in partnership with City Fertility has launched a new initiative, Addam Donor Bank.

Addam Donor Bank is Australia’s leading donor sperm bank which was created with the sole purpose of helping couples and individuals who require donor sperm to fulfil their dreams of parenthood. With a large range of donors to choose from, Addam allows users to find their ideal donor in the privacy and convenience of their own home in three simple steps – search, match and request.

To learn more, visit our Addam Donor Bank page.

Please note clinic-recruited donors from Australia are able to donate to up no more than 10 women in VIC and QLD and 5 in NSW (this includes the donor and any current or former partner of the donor). If you want to use the same donor for both partners, it is important to let the clinic know as we will try to help you select a donor with whom this is possible.

After starting the family-building process with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), some people may discover they, or their partner, have a fertility problem and need an egg donor. There are a couple of ways this can be achieved.

• Egg donation – egg donors can either be “known” (friends or family members) or “unknown”.
• Embryo donation – sometimes, IVF patients create more embryos (fertilised eggs) than they need, with the excess cryopreserved (frozen) for future use. After a period of time, the patient has the option to donate some of these unused embryos to help someone else build a family.

People of all ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds can become clinic-recruited donors at Rainbow Fertility. This includes people of different heights, shapes and sizes, as long as they meet the criteria below:

• Sperm donors must be between 18 and 45 years of age (18 to 45 in Victoria). All clinic-recruited sperm donors must have a semen analysis, anti-sperm antibody test and trial freeze/post-thaw analysis to ensure their sperm is suitable for donation.
• Egg donors must be aged 21-32 years. All clinic-recruited egg donors must have an AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) blood test (which is generally a good indicator of the ovarian reserve) and pelvic ultrasound to ensure they will be suitable as donors.
• Donors must be in good health and have no history of hereditary disease. Donors will not be accepted if they suffer from an illness, disease or genetic condition that poses an unacceptable risk of being passed on to any child conceived from the donation.
• Donors must have a low risk of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. All donors and their partners are screened for infectious diseases.
• Donors must provide a family medical history.
• Some people in the community may not be able to donate because their lifestyle puts them at greater risk of contracting diseases that could infect the recipients and any children conceived. All donors must sign a lifestyle declaration.
• All donors (and their partners) must complete two counselling sessions.
• All donors must consent to release their identifying details to any possible offspring when they reach the age of 18 years.