[Guest]

Hello I am new to this board.  I am a single and would like to have a child.  However, I have come up against the first of presumbably many hurdles, in trying to find a donor bank which has African, African-Caribbean and African-American donors.  Does anyone know of a large donor bank either in the UK or abroad which is regulated and may cater to my needs or even an organisation which can help with the search?   Also if i do find a donor what do i do next?  I have been investigating IVF due to my age but i am still ovulating.  Are there any organisations which give support advice? Thank you for any help.

 

[♥JJ1♥]

Hi Shad I can't help you with the donor sperm, the clinics I know that have sperm but not sure which ethnicnity are the Brigde Fertility centre, London SE1 and London Womne's Clinic, but I just wanted to say that we have a single girls thread one of the girls has managed to import sperm from Denmark, others have gone abroad for sperm. There are many sperm banks in the US but you cannot import it to the UK anymore- South Africa also have fertility clinics and are very reasonable for DE's not sure about sperm supplies.

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=403.0
Good Luck
L x

 

[Guest]

Thanks.  I have spoken to the bridge centre and they have one donor.  they said i should bring a donor - which is easier said than done and also they dont seem to appreciate the complication since i can not think of one person i want to share this with.  I have just started but already i feel like giving up.

 

[pippilongstockings]

Hi Shad,

The National Gamete Donation Trust might be able to help/advise you about finding a suitable donor?

http://www.ngdt.co.uk/

We've also found the donor conception network brilliant for advice and support. They are starting some workshops soon called "preparing yourself" or something like that for people considering donor conception. Not sure what the content will be but it might be worth seeing whether it is relevant to you?

I guess once you have found a clinic that has suitable donors they will let you know the best way forward, be it dIUI or dIVF. My clinic were very keen to try IUI first as it is a lot less invasive but I know that for older women the same clinic often goes straight to IVF.

Hope that helps. Good luck!
pippi x

 

[nubian princess]

Hi Shad,

Myself and my husband are in similar situation. We tried the bridge centre and the LWC to no avail. We are with a clinic already and even if they had sperm of African origin we would be obliged to have the treatment with them instead. Found out that in order to get the sperm from say US, my clinic would need a import license from the HFEA; however to get this would would have needed to buy the sperm in the US beforehand since the application would need specific details of the donor. It would also need to be 'open' donor to comply with the legislation here. The issue is, before buying it would be important to have the details of the clinic to which it would be sent, as well as the peace of mind that customs would not deny entry(as it is not cheap). So we are on a catch 22. Not to mention the costs of having it sent over, we wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper going there. Canada is a ?, they used to import from the US and that stopped, so they r facing scarcity issues - not sure about African origin sperm though.

I will look into the SA option mentioned here! Please let me know if you find a way, i will do the same!

Thank you everyone for your advice, i am new here, still finding my way.

Cat

 

[Guest]

Hi Shad,

Myself and my husband are in similar situation. We tried the bridge centre and the LWC to no avail. We are with a clinic already and even if they had sperm of African origin we would be obliged to have the treatment with them instead. Found out that in order to get the sperm from say US, my clinic would need a import license from the HFEA; however to get this would would have needed to buy the sperm in the US beforehand since the application would need specific details of the donor. It would also need to be 'open' donor to comply with the legislation here. The issue is, before buying it would be important to have the details of the clinic to which it would be sent, as well as the peace of mind that customs would not deny entry(as it is not cheap). So we are on a catch 22. Not to mention the costs of having it sent over, we wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper going there. Canada is a ?, they used to import from the US and that stopped, so they r facing scarcity issues - not sure about African origin sperm though.

I will look into the SA option mentioned here! Please let me know if you find a way, i will do the same!

Thank you everyone for your advice, i am new here, still finding my way.

Cat

I have contacted a clinic in south africa called cape fertility clinic. i will speak to the clinic on monday about the donors they have - not sure what to expect with them. lwc is suppose to have the largest donor database in the UK and apparently they do import sperm. i'm not against going abroad for treatment i would just like to get all the facts first which are not always forthcoming.

 

[Sima]

Hi Shad

I am new to this site but it seems that we are in a similar situation so I was wondering how you got on with your search for sperm from an African, African Carribbean, African American donor.  You posted your question several months ago so it would be good to hear how far you got.

I am just starting out and am single.  I have been to the Bridge and LWC and I am still waiting for both clinics to come back to me with a list of suitable donors.  I am flexible in that I will consider donors from other nationalities if their other characteristics were suitable but I would like to to consider an Afro Carribbean donor in the first instance.

The bridge has told me that they can also import sperm from the US if they cannot find any suitable donors in their bank.  I think they use Xytex.  I have had a quick look on the site but I have not yet signed up to look at the full profiles yet since that would incur yet more expense.  Has anyone had experience of Xytex or importing sperm from abroad?

Take Care

Sima

 

[Guest]

Hi Shad

I am new to this site but it seems that we are in a similar situation so I was wondering how you got on with your search for sperm from an African, African Carribbean, African American donor. You posted your question several months ago so it would be good to hear how far you got.

I am just starting out and am single. I have been to the Bridge and LWC and I am still waiting for both clinics to come back to me with a list of suitable donors. I am flexible in that I will consider donors from other nationalities if their other characteristics were suitable but I would like to to consider an Afro Carribbean donor in the first instance.

The bridge has told me that they can also import sperm from the US if they cannot find any suitable donors in their bank. I think they use Xytex. I have had a quick look on the site but I have not yet signed up to look at the full profiles yet since that would incur yet more expense. Has anyone had experience of Xytex or importing sperm from abroad?

Take Care

Sima

Hello Sima
yes, i did look at the donors on Xytex but I did not find anyone suitable. Unfortunately there is not much choice - just two black donors. There is another donor bank called Fairfax and I found a suitable donor but my clinic said the HFEA will only give a licence for Xytex. The LWC have about 2 donors as well but they will not show you a picture of the donor and you do not get much info on the donor. At the moment I am quite disillusioned with the whole process.

 

[Sima]

Hi Shad

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply but I have only just seen that you have sent me a message.  Call me slow....

Thanks for getting back to me.  I am sorry to hear that you are still struggling to find a suitable donor after all this time.  It can be quite frustrating but I am sure it will be worth it if you get the result you want.

I have taken a look at Xytex and I think I might end up going with them.  I like the idea of getting slightly more information on the donor and being able to look at a picture.

Good luck with everything.

Sima

 

[MrsC28]

i spoke to the london womens clinic today, they have 4 african donors available, but will not let you have them to use at another clinic, you have to have your treatment with them (hope this helps you)

 

[Sima]

Thanks for the info

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info

which clinic are you using - i thought the LWC sold their donor sperm to other clinics?

 

[♥JJ1♥]

No clinic in the UK will give you a picture of a donor. 
L x

 

[suitcase of dreams]

think LWC will sometimes sell to other clinics but depends on levels of demand from their own patients I think...

Laura
x

 

[MrsC28]

Thanks for the info

which clinic are you using - i thought the LWC sold their donor sperm to other clinics?

I am using IVF Wales, when i spoke to LWC a few weeks ago, it seemed as if they were going to provide us with the sperm to use at our clinic, but when i spoke to them last week they said that they only have 4 african donors, and need to keep them for their own patients. I actually need a Afro Carribbean donor, and they said they do not have any available at present, but to ring back in January as they are hoping to set something up where they plan to sell sperm to be used in other clinics.