Build your family using a donor

When purchasing sperm through a licensed fertility clinic, there are few risks to worry about. Your care is our priority; we ensure your safety and legal protection so that your fertility journey is as seamless as possible.

At TFP Fertility, all prospective donors are screened for serious illnesses, infections (including STIs) or genetic diseases that pose a risk to either the birth mother or potential future children. We'll also ensure all of the correct processes are in place and paperwork is filled out to guarantee consent and legal parenthood.

In the event that you achieve a pregnancy with donor eggs or sperm you may be wondering about any rights the donor has to future children. If you choose a donor through a licensed fertility clinic in the UK, they will have no legal rights or responsibilities to any children born as a result of their donation. This means that:

• They won’t be required to financially support the child in any way

• They will not be named on the birth certificate

• They won’t have the right to say how the child will be raised

It is important to know that if you do not choose a donor from a licensed clinic and try another route instead, there is a risk that they will be considered a parent in the eyes of the law. This means that they will have all the rights and responsibilities that parenting a child brings. As you can tell, how you find a donor and who you choose can have a significant impact on the future.

Many people wonder how much information they can find out about a donor before they go ahead with fertility treatment. In the UK, there is a limit to the information you can find out. However, your fertility clinic will be able to provide you with the following information about your donor:

• The donor’s age

• A physical description (height, eye colour, hair colour and weight)

• Ethnicity

• Whether they have had any children already and how many

A donor’s anonymity is of the utmost importance in the UK. Therefore, you won’t be able to find out any personal information that may reveal their identity.

In the UK, it is illegal to pay someone for their egg and sperm donation. This means that those donating sperm, eggs or embryos are doing so for reasons other than financial gain.

Donors can, however, be compensated for any expenses accrued during their donation. This can be used to cover things like travel, accommodation and any loss of earnings. A sperm donor can receive up to £45 per clinic visit during their donation whilst egg donors are entitled to up to £985 per donation cycle.

Putting your trust in the TFP Fertility donor bank

When you choose your egg or sperm donor through TFP Fertility, your health and wellbeing is our number one priority and we do our utmost to ensure your legal and medical protections throughout the process.

This means all of our donors are subject to stringent medical testing and genetic screening. Not only does this ensure our patients are matched to their perfect donor, we can be confident there are no serious medical conditions or inherited diseases that could be passed onto the birth mother or any children conceived.

10-family limit

We also adhere to the UKs 10-family limit. That means that any one of our donors can only donate to a maximum of 10 families.

Purchasing samples from other banks

To help meet the needs of our patients, we may buy in samples from other licensed donor banks or fertility clinics but we do so with a high level of caution, ensuring those that are purchased meet the same legal and medical requirements as those from our own donor programmes.

You should know that the eggs and sperm donated to TFP Fertility via our donor programmes are reserved for TFP Fertility patients and will not be resold to other banks or fertility clinics. Though rare, the exception to this would be in the instance that a patient has had successful treatment using a donor with us and wishes to purchase additional samples so that they may try for a biological sibling at another clinic.

Choosing a donor elsewhere

Of course, patients are free to purchase eggs or sperm from other accredited sources and there is also the option of using a known donor. We can help talk you through these options so that you can decide the one that's right for you.

If you have any concerns or further questions, please get in touch.