Comebacks few and far between for SA sperm

Blue-eyed Caucasian donor #3108 and brown-eyed Xhosa donor #3085 are among 44 men with sperm banked at South Africa's oldest sperm bank.

During the screening process no mental or hereditary illnesses were picked up among these donors. If they had, their sperm would have been rejected - which should provide some reassurance for prospective clients.

Last month three families in Canada filed lawsuits against US-based sperm bank Xytex and its Canadian distributor for misleading them, because the donor all three have used has a history of schizophrenia and a burglary conviction. Xytex plans to defend its process in court.

But problems with donors and hereditary diseases are very limited, says Dr Danie Botha from the Southern African Society for Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy.

"We have had three in the last 10 years: haemophilia, a psychological disorder, and the learning disorder ADHD."

Petrus Loubser, the manager of Androcryos sperm bank in Johannesburg, said it would be irresponsible to claim there was a 100% guarantee.

"Certainly there are risks, but [by] using [registered] donors a lot of risks are substantially reduced. We are very confident. We are most happy to take on and raise a child as our own if the family do not want the child - and we have had no returns in 32 years," he said.

South Africa has big private sperm banks (like Androcryos, Cape Fertility and Wijnland) and a number attached to fertility clinics.

Professor Igno Siebert from Aevitas says the fertility clinic has about 200 sperm donors and their recipients have never had any problems.

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The demand for sperm has increased by roughly 30% in the past 10 years, stoking a global shortage. Increasing infertility, same-sex parenting and wider awareness of sperm donation are behind the trend.

Botha said same-sex female couples, men who underwent chemotherapy without prior sperm banking, men with very poor sperm counts, single women and couples for whom assisted reproduction technologies had failed, used banked sperm the most.

Of the men on the books at Androcyros, 28 come from South Africa and describe themselves as Sotho (1), Tswana (1), Ndebele (1), Indian (1), Jewish (1), Xhosa (2), Zulu (3) and Caucasian (18).

Some are altruistic and want to help couples who cannot conceive, a struggle for an estimated one in five couples, said Loubser.

Others want extra pocket money to pay for studies, to take a scuba diving course, or a girlfriend on a trip. "We have not had any donors who are needy. We do credit checks and [on] their qualifications," he said.

Word of mouth and marketing attract mostly students and young working men since the eligible age typically ranges from 18 to 35 years. Unusual "hobbies" like aquariums and philanthropy are listed by donors, but the popular choices are various kinds of sport, music, movies and cooking.

The waiting room at Androcryos is designed to put prospective donors at ease, with couches, golf clubs mounted on the wall and (non-girlie) magazines on a coffee table.

Only the warning - adult videos - flashing on screens in the clinical rooms where the donors must ejaculate, signals the nature of the business. The FHM magazine calendars that used to be on the walls have been replaced by posters of the male reproductive system.

Once the sperm has been collected and checked, it gets frozen in tanks at -91°C.

One sperm sample precipitated a pregnancy after being stored for 19 years.

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Normally, Androcryos delivers samples to clinics but some clients collect the sperm and do home insemination. "We have had people who do this with their mates and candles. Some couples like to do it here," Loubser said.

Screening starts with the recording of first impressions. "When donors walk through the door we do a visual assessment of whether they are attractive or not. We do not take donors less than 1.7m. All [recipients] want tall, dark and handsome, either that or blonde and blue eyes."

After checking appearance, a battery of blood, urine, medical and psychological tests (including emotional IQ) is done by independent GPs and therapists for Androcryos.

They test for markers of the 27 most common hereditary diseases, HIV, hepatitis A - and, of course, check sperm quality and motility.

On average, potential donors visit the sperm banks more than 10 times and the screening takes one to two months. This process may include a three-month "cool-down period" to allow donors to rethink their plans and double-check for possible HIV infection.

A man is allowed to donate up to 30 times by some banks.

Sperm donors get reimbursed for all expenses and typically get about R3000. The clients pay from R3500 to R10000 for local sperm, but some are prepared to pay up to R60000 if it is imported. Couples sometimes return to get more sperm from the same donor to have siblings.

Androcryos estimates about 100 babies are born every year after being conceived from sperm donations through its bank and some of these families come to visit them.

"We joke about Petrus being the father of many kids," said one mother. "We have peace of mind, and a beautiful child who is two years old next month."

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Josey (not her real name) and her partner wanted a child and two years ago they went ahead with sperm donation to start their family.

"After about six months of research I ended up engaging the services of Androcryos. Petrus Loubser, the manager of the sperm bank, had years of experience and I felt comfortable with the company's process," she said.

"To be absolutely sure, I got one or two friends to go through the sperm donor process without him knowing.

"I also took the sperm to another lab for verification and they said it was of very high quality.

"When the time came, the sperm was hand delivered by the bank to our doctor."

After seven attempts, Josey conceived.

"We got a good profile match and our beautiful boy closely resembles my brother."

The couple considered using friends as donors but chose an anonymous donor to be sure they had full parental rights.

"It was a long process but it was worth it and we are planning to have more children."

keetonc@sundaytimes.co.za