[Talia]

I've also posted on the "Treatment abroad" section, not really sure which category this falls into ... but I was just wondering if there was anyone out there who was thinking of either travelling abroad to use donor sperm or import it into the UK?

We are still thinking over all our options at the moment, but with the changing legislation and shortages of sperm in England at the moment I would be interested to see whether this was really a viable option.

Any advice much appreciated

Thanks, Talia x

 

[nismat]

This isn't something I am considering doing at the moment (we are going to try DIUI at a clinic first), but I do know a few women on a lesbian parenting board who are doing this, importing sperm from the States.
As far as any of us know, www.nwcryobank.com is the only US sperm bank that will import sperm direct to your home, and you apparently don't need an HFEA license to do so according to NWCryo (it's a bit of a legal grey area though). There are lots of other sperm banks in the US that will send sperm to UK clinics, but this makes the whole process quite expensive, as you then have to pay for the IUI at the clinic as well.
If you are going to do at home inseminations (IVI/ICI rather than IUI), then you need to make sure that you order the right kind of prepped semen samples. Don't make the mistake of thinking that IUI samples must be better quality - in actual fact the processing that they have gone through means that the sperm have a shorter life, while the IVI/ICI prepped sperm still have the protective coating that will enable them to live longer on their journey up through the cervix and on towards the egg (hopefully!).
If you import the sperm to your home it means that you can do a few inseminations over your fertile time (depending on how many vials you can afford), and also it's less impersonal/clinical and your DP/DH can be much more involved. You also get more info on donors/more choice.
HTH 

 

[Talia]

Thanks so much for the reply, it's just good to know that we are not the only ones considering this route.
Due to my PCOS I will need to do a medicated cycle so I don't think that the home insemination option would work for us though. We actually live in Italy (where DI is illegal) so will have to travel for treatment where ever we go, given this we were thinking that if we used sperm from the US and went to a clinic outside the UK we would have a greater choice of anonymous donors and much more information on them would be available. We haven't told anybody other than parents about DH's azoospermia and being over here can feel a bit isolated so FF and the ability to get advice like this is a real lifeline. Thanks again...
Talia x

 

[pensiero]

We actually live in Italy (where DI is illegal)

Noi siamo di Roma e facciamo IUI presso la Lister di Londra con sperma importato dagli USA. Sono un po' pressapocchisti e mi hanno sbagliato più di un ciclo, ma mi permetono di monitorare in Italia ed arrivare il giorno primo di inseminare. Non sono aperti di domenica.

In bocca al lupo,
stefania

[box] English translation via software, although could be very wrong

We are from Rome and had IUI at the Lister of London with sperm imported from the USA.

We are a po' pressapocchisti and they have no permitted to me more than a cycle, but im permitted to monitor in Italy and arriving the first day of insemination.

They are not opened of Sunday.

In mouth to the lupo,
[/box]

 

[DennyS]

Hi Talia

As there is such a shortage in the UK, the sperm used in our clinic is imported from abroad and we have been assured that all checks (HIV, etc) are as strict from these donors as in British donors. 

I am not sure how easy it would be to import by yourself, but it might be worthwhile checking out some clinics to find out if they import.  If you are considering DIUI soon then the new legislation might not affect you as some clinics import the sperm in bulk and should have stock which was imported long before April 2005.

I wish you and your DH all the luck in the world as it this is a very difficult decision to make.  I have just had one ICSI cycle which looks like it has failed and may be going down the DIUI route soon.
Den