Should you be a sperm donor?

Sperm donors are able to provide an incredibly meaningful life-giving service to infertile women and couples. However, if you are considering becoming a sperm donor, you should carefully examine the consequences and implications so that you can be sure that it is right for you. Potentially, donating your sperm could translate into your having a child or children in the world that you will never know. Although many single young men see sperm donation as a quick way to score some cash, what they may forget to think about is how they will feel about having been a donor when they are older, quite possibly with a family and kids of their own. This is not a decision that should be financially motivated, despite the fact that it often is.

Carefully examine your motives for donating sperm. Where did this idea come from? How long have you been considering this? The last thing that you want to do is to make a spur of the moment sperm donation. This is a decision that may seem like no big deal to you right now, but it could possibly have a very profound impact on your future. If you are certain that your intentions are pure and that you feel compelled to help childless men and women to achieve their dream of building a family, you still have to figure out whether or not you are even a viable candidate for sperm donation. You should be between the ages of 18 and 20, and in general, the younger candidates are the most desirable because, simply put, they have the highest-quality sperm. You also have to be in good health, meaning that you have no serious chronic illnesses or physical handicaps, that you are mentally sound, and that you are in your appropriate weight range. You also cannot be a sperm donor if you have been exposed to HIV or some other sexually transmitted diseases, such as genital warts, hepatitis B or C, genital herpes, or syphilis. Non-smokers are also preferable.

Sperm donors have no legal or financial ties to any child that could potentially be born as a result of their sperm deposit. You will not be considered the father in the eyes of the law, but you have to decide whether or not your personal stance reflects the same attitude. Can you handle the reality that you may have one or more children in the world that you will never even know? Do you think that you will worry about this in the future, after you have stopped donating sperm, say twenty years from now? Some sperm donors sign a waiver that states that if a biological child would like to contact them after the age of eighteen, they can. You should think about what your stance would be on that issue as well, since you really have no way of knowing what will be going on in your life eighteen years from now.

College guys have been donating sperm for years in pursuit of a little extra cash to put in their pockets. Unfortunately, many of them have later regretted their hasty decision when they grow older, get married, and have children. If you are unmarried, you never know how your future wife or girlfriends will feel about the decision that you made to donate sperm. Some men who have donated sperm as bachelors have attested that their wives felt very mournful about the idea that their husband could possibly have children out in the world that aren’t hers. Also, if you have children of your own some day, will you tell them that they might have some biological half-brothers and half-sisters in the world? These may seem like far-reaching questions, but they are questions that you should answer before you go ahead with sperm donation.

If you meet the basic criteria for sperm donation, and you have decided after some introspection that you are going to try to become a sperm donor, then you can begin the process. Contact local fertility clinics and sperm banks to inquire about setting up an appointment to discuss becoming a donor. There will be a screening process that you have to go through before you are accepted into a sperm donation program. You will have to supply a complete medical history, including both sides of your family. You will have to undergo a series of blood tests and physical examinations to ensure that you are a qualified donor. You will also have to provide sperm samples during your screening process so that they can test your sperm count. In most cases, you are not paid for the screening process, although there is also usually no charge to you even if you are not accepted into the program. If you are accepted, then you will make arrangements to begin making regular sperm donations, and you will be paid per donation, generally at least $40 per donation.