20 Little Known Facts About Sperm Banks, Including Height Requirements

If you are a sperm donor, then you can not only make a nice little sum of money for doing something you would be doing in your bedroom anyway, but you can also help families who are struggling to conceive. Many men who donate sperm don’t talk about it, either because they’re embarrassed they handed over their seed for money, they want to remain as anonymous as possible, or nobody ever asks them! So sperm banks and the entire industry of sperm donating can be a thing of mystery for many. In fact, you probably don’t know where your local sperm bank even is because these businesses tend to have rather non-descript entrances. So if you’re a man interested in donating sperm, or a woman interested in getting some, here are little-known facts about sperm banks.

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This is how big the industry is

Over one million children are conceived with donated sperm in the United States every year. That’s nearly two percent of all babies born in the U.S. every year.

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The cost

One round of insemination can cost between $200 and $800. Depending on your health and your fertility, you may need to undergo several rounds of intrauterine insemination (IUI).

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The sperm is “washed.”

The sperm isn’t put through a strainer, but it is put through a process so that your doctor can catch just the most potent, concentrated swimmers.

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Surprising reasons women go for IUI

Fertility problems are not the only reasons women try IUI. Some have it because their partner has an STD, and they cannot have sex without a condom. Others have it because they experience pain during sex. Some women even have a semen allergy.

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There are requirements for donors

Most sperm banks won’t take donors who are under six feet tall (it turns out women are ordering taller babies these days), or anyone who lives more than an hour away from the sperm bank.

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PhD sperm is a thing

If you have a PhD you might receive more money for your sample because prospective parents are often willing to pay more money for doctoral sperm.

You have to at least go to high school

You must be a high school graduate in order to donate sperm. Some banks won’t even accept your sample if you didn’t graduate college or are not at least currently enrolled in college.

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Some banks are very picky

One sperm bank recently stopped accepting samples from red heads. Apparently, they just weren’t selling.

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You can shop by race

Sperm banks have found that most couples want a baby who will look like them, and so they categorize their sperm by race and try to match it with the ethnicity of the prospective parents.

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Why couples shop for race

Couples have stated many reasons that they want their baby to be their own race. One of those reasons is they feel they don’t have the cultural understanding and background to properly raise a baby of a totally different ethnicity than their own. Some couples want the fact that they couldn’t conceive on their own to remain a secret; having a baby who looked drastically different from them would give their secret away.

You can get celebrity sperm

Okay, not actual celebrity sperm. But some banks will allow you to request a donor who looks like a certain celebrity, and they’ll see what they can do.

Not just anyone can have it

For you to receive sperm, sperm banks require that you are either a single woman, a gay couple who doesn’t have viable sperm, a heterosexual couple who does not have viable sperm or a lesbian couple.

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Twins, triplets and all

If a woman becomes pregnant through a combination of IUI and fertility drugs, she is much more likely to become pregnant with more than one fetus than if she’d become pregnant through the natural course.

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What you can know about your donor

Most sperm banks will give you information about your donors like his medical history, education background, social upbringing and demographics.

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You might connect with your donor

Some sperm banks offer their donors the option to stay in contact with their future child. It’s up to them whether or not they want that.

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The donor can be your friend

You can request to have your friend or someone you know donate the sperm, and the bank will help you retrieve the sample, just as they would with any other donor. They will, however, require you and the donor fill out certain legal documents if you know each other.

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The cost of in vitro fertilization

If you must use your sample for in vitro fertilization— the sperm and egg come together in a laboratory dish, outside the woman’s body—you might pay around $12,000.

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A cured STD disqualifies you

If you have ever had an STD, you will be disqualified as a donor. This holds true even if you have been completely cured of it.

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You must know a lot about your family

You’ll need to fill out a detail medical questionnaire. Not only will you need to answer dozens of detailed questions about your own medical history, but you’ll also need to be well-versed on almost all of your immediate family.