Specimen Withdrawals and Transfers
Specimen withdrawals
Because of the time and skill needed to work at deep levels in the tank, IDANT requires a five-day period for specimen withdrawal upon receipt of the signed authorization for withdrawal and the withdrawal fee. There is an additional charge for specimen withdrawals requested within less than five days. Semen may only be released to another license storage facility, physician, physician's assistant, or nurse that will perform the assisted reproductive technique.
Recent changes in client-depositor standards set by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) require that client be tested by additional laboratory tests for potentially transmissible diseases. These additional tests are HIV-1/2, HTLV-I/II, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, chlamydia, and ALT level. Client-depositors who have deposited before January 2001 are not subject to this standard. However, we strongly recommend testing, as semen not fulfilling these current requirements are considered exceptional release, as per new AATB standards, and therefore, release of these specimens for transplantation require a written informed consent from the recipient and attending physician acknowledging that they are both aware that the semen does not meet current requirements.
In addition, no semen specimens will be released if there are any unpaid storage fees. There will be a handling fee for paperwork and packing the specimens for shipment. With each shipment we will send your physician semen analysis report(s), test results (if applicable), and instructions on handling the shipping tanks and performing the insemination.
We recommend that you not ship all of your specimens to your doctor's office at one time, in case of some unexpected problem in the shipping process.
Specimen transfers
Please contact us if you wish to transfer your specimens to IDANT from another facility. An exception from the New York State Department of Health is required before we can accept semen from non-approved semen banks. For directed and anonymous donor specimens, the donors must have tested negative for HIV-1/2, HTLV-I/II, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea, and must have a normal ALT value. In addition, all required clinical laboratory testing must have been performed by a laboratory approved by the state's regulating authority or by the New York State Department of Health.
Specimen discard
If you choose not to continue storage of your specimens, simply fill out the Authorization to Discard Semen Samples form and submit to the semen bank. Any unpaid balances or storage fees must be settled with our Accounting Department.