Infertility Help – Is Sperm Donation An Option For You?

Infertility can be an exhausting journey filled with many difficult decisions. One of the most difficult may be whether or not to use sperm donation as an infertility help and solution. There are many reasons a woman or couple may consider sperm donation as an option, an each of them comes with a complex set of things to consider by all those involved. Ultimately, it is a very personal decision and one that requires much consideration.

Personal Considerations of Sperm Donation

For many couples, there is a great deal of uncertainty even after the decision has been made to consider sperm donation. Most fertility specialists, as well as others who have personal experience with infertility recommend therapy with someone who specializes in infertility issues and can offer help and insight into the many emotional issues involved. There are no right or wrong feelings and many are caught off guard by their own deepest thoughts. In addition to therapy, local and online infertility help support groups can help in dealing with many of the issues which may include:

Male guilt and grief over the lost hope of a child biologically related
Feelings of inadequacy
Female guilt over the desire to be pregnant
Spouse not fully understanding the desire to be pregnant
Feeling like you are somehow unfaithful to your spouse
Feeling that the spouse is putting too much of the decision making process in your lap
Secretly not being on the same page
Concerns of the husband is outwardly supportive but inwardly resentful
Fears that the spouse may not feel as bonded to the child
Fears of not knowing the donor
Fears of using a known or related donor
The unwanted, uninformed or misinformed comments
The pressures of family to have a child
Worries of whether or not family will accept the decision, or the child
Feeling you may somehow be judged by friend or family for the choice of infertility help

Practical Considerations

When the decision has been made to pursue sperm donation as the best course of infertility help, a whole new set of considerations open up. One of the most important of the considerations is whether to use a known or unknown donor.

Known Donor

For some couples, using a known donor provides a great deal of comfort. One popular course of action is using the donated sperm of someone related to the husband, because though the child may not be the spouse’s biological child, it is still related. This can be very legally complicated and involves a significant waiting period before the sperm can be released from the bank after testing.

Unknown Donors

Using an unknown donor from a sperm bank is by far the most commonly used method of sperm donation. Though the child is not biologically related to the husband, it does allow you to browse through a profile book of donor and choose from someone who has similar traits. The sperm has already been tested for things like HIV and processed, so there not a long waiting period.

The decision to use sperm donation is a difficult one but is right for many people. One of the most important things to remember, particularly when choosing between sperm donation and adoption, whether or not the child is yours biologically, it is a product of your union and because of that, every bit your own.