Donor sperm

[bobs]

Hi to everyone, I was wondering if anyone is undergoin treatment with donor sperm? The reason i'm asking is because my dh + I were hopefully starting another cycle of icsi with donor backup in May time,but yesterday we received a letter from our clinic stating that due to the law change regarding donor sperm, the clinic is having difficulties getting hold of donor sperm therefore will not be able to offer this at present to anyone needing this kind of treatment.
I would be very grateful to anyone who can tell me if this is the case at their clinic. We both feel quite upset about this because due to the poor quality of my Dh sperm the clinic previously told us more or less that donor sperm is our only option....Now does this mean we don't have any choices?
Love Bobs xx

[lynne]

Hi Bobs,
Sorry to hear your news. I know it's upsetting, but I think you'll find the situation is the same more or less everywhere.
We did 3 donor IUI and were then given the exact same information as you were.
Our situation is slightly different to yours as we hadn't tried ICSI with sperm retreived from DH by TESA. (It is a long story why we opted for donor over DH's sperm in the first place). Thankfully we got enough for ten straws, but sadly have not conceived yet.
I hope you find a solution to your problem. There is some sperm available, but it is very hard to get hold of. Good luck.

[charlie77]

hiya
im not sure if this is gonna be helpfull to you or just add more problems to your lot but
i hav male fact infertility and our clinic also told us that we would never hav my children and that donor sperm was the way to gofor us
but my wife was insistant that she wanted to have my children and she fought very hard to make them let us use my sperm
and amazingly enough we fell pregnant 1st go with icsi
so we are now very gratefull that she fought like she did
this isnt to say that we hav anything against donor sperm though
i just wanted to share our experiance with you
i hope you hav sucsess very soon
richard carlie

[angelamw]

Hi Bobs

I have read recently that following the changes to the law there is now a shortage of donnors. I know our hospital has got loads of posters up asking for donors. I think the problem is that any baby born may be able to trace the donnor when they reach 18, which is putting many donnors off. Good luck with your search and I hope that you find a donnor.

Angela

[Lis]

Hi Bobs we've spoken on the phoenixes thread. As you may remember my dh went through sperm retreival only for it to be negative and now our only option is donod sperm. Our unit said they can't offer us donor iui because of the shortage caused by anonymity being lifted. Infact I phoned all private/specialist units in Scotland and they all said the same!! That they couldn't take us on or treat us!! My own unit said they could only treat us if my iui's elsewhere fail and I need ivf with donor - in that situation they still can't guarantee an available donor because the one they may have selected for us may have reached the limit of 10 pregnancies by the day of fertilisation and they may not have any more stocks......crazy!

As a result I phoned round some units in Northern England and found 2 with their own sperm banks. I spoke to someone within each unit that said so far they are not encountering any problems with shortages. So we went ahead and made an appt for Darlington for 3 weeks time.


Basically you need to find somewhere that has their own sperm bank. Someone who I also pm (originally from this board) said you can get the clinics to buy it in from America. Apparently the clinic can get a licence / or may already have a licence that covers this and it can be bought already screened and quarantined etc and ready to use.

Like you, we were devastated. Dh had 6 days beforehand, had his negative result from sperm retreival and we had just made the decision that we would use donor only to be told that we may have difficulty getting treated anywhere. I cried and cried the whole day We were asked if we knew anyone that could donate for us. We don't but we are both against that idea.

So definitely search around. I phoned hfea and they were as much use as a chocolate fireguard! They couldn't even tell me which places had their own bank. I went onto their website to get clinic addreses then phoned them.

If you want to talk more please feel free to pm (private message) me anytime. Take care and I keep everything crossed that your dh has the result you both want from the big thaw.

Lisa xxxx

[bobs]

Hi, thanks to you all for your replies.
Richard, I'm soo pleased that the treatment worked just as you both wanted it too,but unfortunately with ours it is slightly different in the fact that it is not the case on us not being insistant.We are just being realistic on the outcome of my dh frozen sperm from his previous tese operation.After yrs of ttc + numerous attempts with icsi we know that we need donor sperm or backup donor sperm at the very least! But due to the donor sperm crisis we are worried that should we go through with a course of icsi + discover dh sperm nil + no donor backup would be a total waste of everything as there would be no embies to put back.
Lynne, good luck to you + ur dh with your further treatments
Lisa, good for you in chasing up info from other clinics,wouldnt you think your own clinic would have the advice for you rather than you having to deal with it all yourselves!
I totally understand how you must of both felt + I have personally been there when you cry for what feels like forever.
I am going to contact our clinic to organise a meeting with them to discuss all of our worries + concerns. I will keep you posted on what happens + will no doubt pm you to ask about ringing round other clinics, etc. Hope you don't get fed up of me, lol
Love Bobs xx

[Lis]

Hey glad you're being pro active and setting up a meeting. That's great. Yes your right you would have thought that my clinic would have been able to help but that's what I've learned thro all of this - you have to be outthere for yourself as no one else is! Yes we do feel let down by our clinic. After we have first consultation with Darlington, if everything goes to plan then I'm going to ask Edinburgh to do my ultrasound scans and bloods - if they say no I'm going to kick up a fuss big style!

Good luck and let me know how it goes - pm me anytime you like and as often as you like!

xxxx

[bobs]

Hi Lisa,
My dh + I have got an appointment on friday 7th april with our clinic.Cant wait tho as we are anxious as too what they will say!But at the same time we are lucky that they managed to fit us in so soon.
When are you having consultation at Darlington?I really hope everything goes to plan for both + that you don't end up needing to kick ass! Lol
Will keep you posted after clinic appointment next week
love Bobs xx

[Lis]

That's great Bobs - 7th April, that's only 6 days away! My consultation is 24th April. Already I'm starting to stress that maybe things have changed in the last 4 weeks and that maybe donors aren't as available as they were 4 weeks ago. I don't trust anything now. Was even thinking of calling them to get some info. Paranoid???

L xxxx

[caz22]

HI all
hope you don't mind me joining
WE have severe male factor but thanks to 2 goes of ICSI with TESE extracted JUST about enough to make our beautiful baby. OUr situation was BAD....so just don't give up. I know wht you mean about the donr shortage. Nightmare - we needed it as back up but couldn't decide whether we would have used it or not.....infact I'm desperate for another and ICI very unlikely to work for us (I think we used ever last sperm we had!), so donor may be our only chance. However don't know if my DH will go for it, I think he worries that he will struggle to love the child equally 0if that makes sense. I just don't know..........
Anyway I would love to join you as we will be trying a TESE in a whiloe to see if we have anything to freeze.

I think you can import sperm from the US where theres a good choice. Its obviously more expensive though

All the best
Cazx

[NickiMark]

Hi, bobs. As u know we are using donor sperm too, the only option for us too, we have had 3 iui's to no avail, and to be honest didn't realise the shortage issue til lisa was saying on the phoenix thread, I had my consultation early march and asked the Q to my clinic who said that there were fewer donors since the law changes but not so low there wasn't enough sperm, and told us not worry. Our clinic gets sperm from london and apparently theres enough there at the moment.... i am not worried personally as clinic have assured me, but no after reading this all, it's a worry as time passes will there we less and less?????

Bobs where in Yorkshire are you exactly??? Wishing you all the best for the 7th ok, let us know what happens ok xxx

[bobs]

Hi Nicki, we too were previously told by our clinic that at the moment there wasn't a severe shortage of donor sperm,so we were not particularly worried.That is until the letter dropped through our post box the other day! It mentioned that because of the change in law in April '05 re:donors,clinics were given a yr to use there sources. This meaning by April '06 they would only be able to use donor that has been given after April '06. My letter stated that even so they have not been able to get hold of any donor sperm whether it be b4 '06 or after!
We are pretty anxious as i'm sure of all people you will understand as you are more or less in the same boat as us.I just can't wait til friday now! I really hope they have some better news as all we seem to get it the bad news!
I'm not 100% sure were our clinic gets there supplies from but I thought it was London too? I'll make sure I ask that at meeting
I'll keep you posted tho as I feel guilty now for worrying you , this thread is supposed to be about PMA + cheering others up!
Love Bobs xx

[NickiMark]

Bobs, it's a concern for us all, that need sperm from donors, dont worry about worrying me this site is for support as well as bringing things to light, Thanks for letting us know about your letter.
please let us know about your consultation.
x x x x x x x x x

[Lis]

Bobs just wishing you luck for Friday and watch out all going to start anew thread.......to support us ladies in this situation. Welcome Caz and best of luck and PMA on your journey xxx