How Can I Become a Sperm Donor?

This is one of the most frequent questions we're asked on SpermCenter. The process of becoming a donor varies from bank to bank but it may generally follow this outline over several months:

1) Find a sperm bank near you. If you find one in your state but not your city, see if the bank has other branches or call them to see if they have partnerships with any fertility clinics near you.

2) Fill out an application, either online or at the sperm bank. You will be asked about your height, weight, age, ethnicity, education and anything else the banks feels is relevant.

3) If your application is accepted, you will go to your first office visit. During this visit you may be asked to provide more medical history and social information and you'll get your first semen analysis. Most banks will pay you a nominal amount, for example, $25 just for your first sample.

4) You may be asked to come back for a second visit where you will sign consent forms, get a second semen analysis if needed (and get paid again, usually about the same amount you go thte first time. If your specimen is good and they keep it, you can make $70-100), review your information, perhaps take a vision or other test, fill out your detailed profile and other similar activities.

5) During your third visit you will usually receive a physical exam where the doctor will determine if you're fit to be a donor.

6) After you've had your physical and your medical and social history has been reviewed, you will visit a fourth time. During this visit you'll get your third semen analysis and begin infectious disease screening,  blood testing and urine analysis.

7) Your fifth visit or so will be to review your genetic history with the medical director of the sperm bank or other genetic professional (at the larger sperm banks, this is usually a genetic counselor) and commence genetic testing

At this point your final chart is reviewed and approved by all the necessary departments of the bank (e.g. lab, genetics department and donor department) as well as the medical director. The medical director then sings off on your chart and you're ready to go.

After you've been qualified, every donation thereafter is fairly straightforward. You will go in, give a sample and they will do a semen analysis and have you review your medical and social history.

They may test monthly for diseases like gonorrhea and chlamydia and every few months they will do more infectious disease testing and update your file. You may be asked to come in every 6 months or so for a physical examination and review.

This is just a sample scenario of the steps you may have to take. It may be longer or shorter depending on the bank you go to, but the general process is similar. Some donors have made as much as $1,100/month just by donating their semen.