Sperm Donor Photos

Can I see what the donor looks like?

Usually not.

Members often ask, "Can I see photos of the sperm donors?" The answer usually is: no.

Most (but not all) sperm donors wish to remain anonymous. When they decide to donate their sperm, they sign a contract with the sperm bank. Usually, one of the terms in the contract is that the bank agrees to keep the donor's identity private. Some donors do agree to release their identity when any offspring becomes an adult, usually in 18 years. (See our tutorial on ID Release Donors). This doesn't mean you can see the donor's photo now.

Sometimes a donor will give the bank an adult photo on condition that it be used only for photo matching (see our glossay of fertility terms). Most sperm banks offer some kind of photo-matching service. With photo-matching, you give the bank a photo of your husband/partner or someone else, and the bank selects a donor with similar features or appearance—but you don't get to see a picture of the donor yourself. Photo-matching can range in price from free to several hundred dollars.

That said, some donors do allow their photo to be released, and many provide baby photos. Even when photos are available, sperm banks do not post them on the web for the general public to see; you will usually have to pay a small fee to see a baby or adult photo, often as part of a more detailed donor profile package.

At spermcenter.com, we list which kinds of photos (baby, adult, lifetime, etc) are available for each donor. Look for the Photo Available? field in the donor's detailed profile. Here's a table showing how many donors have which kinds of photos:

Type	Num donors
No photo	3
Baby photo	1	(or toddler)
Total	4	donors

As you can see, the vast majority of donors (3 out of 4) do not provide any kind of photo. Only donors provide adult photos.

If photos are important to you, it's always a good idea to ask the sperm bank if a photo is available, even if the profile says "No", because sometimes the bank gets a photo of a donor but forgets to update their database.

And remember: tall, dark and handsome is nice, but beauty is only skin deep! Or as Confucius said: "Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it."

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