The Risks of At Home Insemination: DIY Donor Sperm Treatment

Tempted to find donor sperm yourself and do DIY home insemination?

With increasing numbers of co-parent ‘matching’ sites and people even advertising their sperm online, it may seem like a quick, low-cost option to pregnancy - but it carries significant risks compared to donor sperm insemination at a licensed fertility clinic:

Advantages of donor sperm insemination at a licensed clinic

• You’re given a thorough medical check including a fertility check before treatment starts, to ensure you’re ovulating and that insemination is medically a treatment option for you
• You’re given counselling – so you understand the full implications of using donor sperm to conceive now and in the future, including the effect it may have on your donor-conceived child
• Insemination is planned and performed by a specialist fertility consultant
• Your ovulation is tracked and monitored – so insemination can be carried out at exactly the right time for fertilisation
• If you have ovulatory issues, fertility drugs can be used
• Your sperm donor is from a licensed sperm bank – regulated by the HFEA – which means legal parenthood is set by law. The donor is not your child’s legal parent and has no parental rights
• As a registered HFEA sperm donor they are fully identifiable to your child in future, if they wish to know who they are – giving your child the chance to trace their biological origins
• Their sperm has been thoroughly checked for quality – the donor has proven sperm count and excellent sperm motility and shape
• They’ve been screened for infectious diseases including STDs and common genetic conditions
• They’ve had implications counselling about being a sperm donor, they understand what it involves and there are happy to help you have a baby
• Their sperm has been carefully prepared and ‘washed’ in a laboratory before use
• Insemination is carried out typically in a clean clinic theatre or private ward room

Disadvantages of at-home insemination & using unregulated sperm donor sources

• If you’ve found a sperm donor online outside of a sperm bank, your sperm donor is unlikely to have had any medical checks, disease screening or a sperm analysis - which could potentially put your health – and the health of your baby – at risk
• Your sperm donor could be the legal father of your child, giving them parental rights and all that this entails, depending on how insemination was carried out and whether you’re married or in a relationship at the time
• There’s no limit to how many children your sperm donor creates – sperm donors from a regulated sperm bank can only create a maximum 10 separate families in the UK
• No medical check is carried out to check your fertility – you may have fertility issues you’re not aware of, which would make insemination less likely to work
• Ovulation isn’t monitored, reducing your chance of successful conception. Identifying the right time for insemination yourself can be very hit-and-miss, especially if you have irregular cycles
• Risk of infection from trying to perform home insemination yourself

Order health-screened donor sperm from Semovo for safe treatment at a fertility clinic

Don’t jeopardise your chance of pregnancy or your health by relying on unregulated donor sperm at at-home insemination to have your baby – at Semovo we have sperm donors ready to help you have a baby now, there’s no waiting list.

Choose a sperm donor from our regulated sperm bank and we’ll deliver their sperm straight to your fertility clinic, so treatment can be carried out expertly, safely and without delay.

Start your journey to a baby today – browse our donors online from the comfort and privacy of your home, and just submit our quick online form to register your preference when you find your ideal match.