Donor Matching
Choosing a sperm or egg donor is an important decision that brings individual challenges. With our experience of assisting patients having assisted conception treatment we can help you to make the decision that is right for you.
Each egg and sperm contain half the genes of an individual. Attributes are inherited randomly with some children resembling their parents and others not at all. Although you may choose a donor with specific attributes that may be inherited this cannot be guaranteed, as environmental influences are also important part of a person’s development.
Most donor banks have strict protocols that exclude infectious diseases by thorough testing of potential donors and quarantine of their samples for a fixed period of time.
However, choosing a donor can provide an opportunity to reduce risks of having complications of pregnancy or a child with a genetic condition.
Genetic testing of donors varies by provider. Most donor banks will complete a full family history of the donor to assess for genetic disease and carry out some level of genetic testing.
More recently donor banks are now including extended genetic screening. This testing can show if a donor is a carrier of one or more recessive disease. If you were also found to be a carrier for the same recessive disease there would be a 1 in 4 or 25% chance of having a child affected by condition.
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You may be asked to have a genetic consultation prior to selecting the donor to understand what the results of the testing means to you. We can arrange for you to be have carrier testing to check that you are not a carrier of the same condition as the donor.
Alternatively you may decide that after the risks are explained you wish to proceed with the donor and sign a declaration for use at your clinic to show you have been given this information.
At fertility genetics we can help you by:
Arranging for carrier screening and explaining the results for your choice of donor(s)
Providing a genetic report and declaration of use for you, your clinic and the donor bank to use the donor you have chosen without having carrier screening.