If you’re missing a piece from your baby-making puzzle or if you need to use a surrogate to carry and grow your precious baby, then we can help. Our baby-making team is supportive and inclusive – we believe everyone has the right to create their family the way they need to. Some of our clinics have partnerships with international sperm and egg banks and we can also support patients who are using their own known donors. Get in touch so our dedicated team can guide you through every baby step of the process.
If you’re clinic shopping to figure out where to have your donor IVF cycle, it’s important to factor in the success rates, scientific expertise and quality of care as well as whether or not their donor profiles have photos. When you’re going to all the effort of finding a donor, you want to maximise your chance of creating a baby. Here’s two quick reasons why Genea should be top of your list - 8 out of 10 patients who started treatment elsewhere wish they came to Genea first* and our Geri® incubation system – which we created - has resulted in a 12.2% increase in the number of live births when compared to the traditional incubator and culture medium system**.
Egg and sperm donation treatment is regulated by state legislation, industry requirements, NH&MRC guidelines and clinic policies and protocols. Because when is life ever simple, right?
Genea believes it is important for both medical and psychosocial reasons, that a child is able to know his or her genetic origins. The law in most of our clinic locations requires that donor offspring are able to access identifying information about their donor (if unknown) when they turn 18. There are also state and clinic regulations that limit the total number of families an individual donor can create (including their own) to between 5 and 10.
All patients and their partners (where applicable) accessing donor treatment will be required to undergo counselling with one of our accredited counsellors. For known donation, the counselling involves a session for the recipient (and partner if applicable); the donor (and partner if applicable) and a subsequent joint session with everyone. If you’re using a bank donor there will typically be one counselling session for the recipient (and partner if applicable).
State register
It’s important to know that in all locations except the ACT, there is a requirement that donor births are reported to a state register. This includes the identifying details of the donor.
Transparency
Both recipients and donors are required to disclose all matters reasonably relevant to donation (e.g. mental and physical health, relationships, reproductive history, substance use etc.).
For those of you using eggs or sperm from a known donor for your fertility treatment, here’s how things will run:
If you’re using a known donor, your first step is a consultation with your Genea Fertility Specialist for both you and your donor. Your doctor will arrange for various tests to be done and refer you for counselling. Once you have seen a Fertility Specialist, the next step is to get in touch with our counsellors to book appointments.
You’ll also need to have a nurse interview which you can line up any time after you’ve started the counselling process. Our best advice is that you leave that as close to treatment as possible, so you remember everything. Both you and your donor will need to have your own nurse interview appointment.
Another thing that it’s important to know is that donated sperm must be quarantined for a minimum of four months before you can use it. For eggs, you can choose to waive this quarantine if you prefer. After the nurse interview, and once all paperwork has been signed, and after quarantine (if applicable), you can get started with your treatment.
Find a Fertility Specialist
Known donor
Patients using known donors often find them amongst family, friends and acquaintances or through the internet or advertising. Genea recommends that known egg donors are preferably under the age of 35 years and have also completed their own families.
De-identified egg donor (bank eggs)
If you’re planning to use an egg bank (with which Genea has an agreement), please get in touch with our Donor Coordinators after you have seen your Fertility Specialist. The Donor Coordinators will send you important information about the costs and conditions involved and outline the next steps as well as booking in your counselling session. When the counselling is completed you can order the eggs and arrange the appointment with your nurse. You can begin your cycle once the eggs arrive at your Genea clinic.
De-identified sperm donor (bank sperm)
If you’re planning to use a sperm bank (with which Genea has an agreement), please get in touch with our Donor Coordinators after you have seen your Fertility Specialist and we’ll put you on the waiting list. The Donor Coordinators will send you important information about the costs and conditions involved as well as outline the process and book your counselling appointment as you approach the top of the waiting list. After your counselling session, you can order the sperm (which will be out of quarantine) and arrange the appointment with your nurse. You can begin your cycle once the sperm has arrived at your Genea clinic.