Anonymous Donor Semen
Donor and specimen testing
IDANT donors are actively recruited from the 130 colleges and universities of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region. Ultimately, only 5-10% of all applicants screened are accepted in our donor program as a result of the screening process.
All anonymous donors and their semen is fully tested in accordance with the current New York State Department of Health regulations, the American Association of Tissue Banks Standards, and Health Canada Directives utilizing FDA-licensed test kits.
The following tests are performed on all our donors:
- chemistry panel (ALT value)
- chlamydia
- complete blood count
- complete physical examination
- cytomegalovirus (IgG and IgM)
- hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb)
- hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)
- hepatitis C
- HIV-1
- HIV-2
- HTLV-I
- HTLV-II
- syphilis (non-treponemal and treponemal-specific)
If applicable, the following genetic tests are performed:
- Canavan disease (for Jewish donors only)
- cystic fibrosis (if indicated in donor's family history)
- sickle-cell disease (for African and African American donors only)
- Tay-Sachs disease (for Jewish or French Canadian donors only)
- thalassemia (for donors of Mediterranean origin)
In addition, every donor specimen is tested for the following:
- gonorrhea
- semen analysis
- semen culture and sensitivity
The tests below are repeated every three months. All anonymous donor semen is quarantined for at least 180 days:
- chemistry panel (ALT value)
- chlamydia
- cytomegalovirus (IgG and IgM)
- gonorrhea
- hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb)
- hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)
- hepatitis C
- HIV-1
- HIV-2
- HTLV-I
- HTLV-II
- semen culture and sensitivity
- syphilis (non-treponemal and treponemal-specific)
Quality of donor semen
| Criterion | Value |
|---|---|
| Post-thaw motility | 40% or greater |
| Motile sperm per straw | 10 million or greater for ICI units; 5 million or greater for IUI units |
| Forward progression | 3 or greater |
| Percent normal morphology | 14% or greater by Strict Criteria |
Specimen composition
Anonymous donor semen is either stored in 0.5ml straws as standard insemination units with minimum dilution for intracervical insemination units (ICI), or processed further using a gradient medium for intrauterine insemination units (IUI).
The concentration of motile sperm varies between ejaculates and donors. Minimum cut-off levels as to motility, morphology, concentration, and cryosurvival are employed for each ejaculate.
IUI units are processed with Isolate, a two-layer gradient system that effectively isolates highly motile sperm cells from dead sperm, white blood cells, and cellular debris by density centrifugation and resuspended in modified human tubal fluid media that has been prepared in accordance with in vitro diagnostic guidelines and the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs). All insemination units are cryopreserved with 10% v/v glycerol or a cryopreserved media composed of 12% glycerol, egg yolk, and buffer.