Sperm Donation
By becoming a sperm donor, you are providing a generous gift for those who long to experience the joy of parenthood.
- Contact Us
- Phone 08 8155 5333
Becoming a Donor
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible, donors need to be :
- Australian citizens or permanent residents
- Be aged between 21 and 40
- Be healthy
- Be able to provide a medical history of their families (self, children, siblings, parents, and grandparents)
- Have an adequate semen profile
- Be prepared to attend counselling, medical assessments, and screening tests
- Agree to be identified by offspring once they reach the age of 18 and above
In South Australia, payment cannot be made for sperm however we ensure sperm donors have no out of pocket costs.
Who benefits from your donation?
Some people are simply unable to start a family without the use of donor sperm. Sperm donation can support single women, same-sex female couples, and heterosexual couples experiencing male infertility from genetic disorders, cancer, etc.
All recipients meet with our counsellors to understand what being a sperm donor recipient entails for them and their future children.
Support and Resources
Throughout your journey, Maria our dedicated donor coordinator will provide guidance and answer your questions. We understand that this is an important decision, and she is here to guide you every step of the way.
Our counsellors, Emma and Julie, are available to support you (and your partner if you have one) through the emotional issues you could face.
Contact from donor-conceived offspring
Any child born from donated sperm can request access to their donor's details once they reach the age of 18, or 16 if deemed mature enough. This reflects the changing dynamics of modern families and emphasises the importance of transparency and openness in the process.
Find Out More
For more information and to embark on this journey, please complete the form below and our donor coordinator will contact you.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several steps:
- A doctor will take a full medical history
- Infectious screening tests will be requested
- A semen analysis will be requested
- Once eligible to proceed, counseling will commence.
- You will make several sperm donations for freezing (the number may vary)
Yes, in SA the maximum number of families that can be created from any one donor's sperm is 10. If you prefer less then you can request that.
No, donors can't place conditions on who receives their donation. Recipients may be heterosexual couples, single women, or same-sex female couples.
Donors should be in good general health and have no history of hereditary disease. Donors will not be accepted if they suffer from an illness, disease, or genetic condition that poses an unacceptable risk of being passed on to any child conceived from the donation.
This will all be thoroughly discussed with you by your doctor.
Under South Australian law, a sperm donor has no parental rights or duties to any children arising from his donation. The recipient (and partner if they have one) are recorded on the birth certificate. along with a notation that donor gametes were used. Upon reaching adulthood it may, in future, be possible for the child to request that the name of the donor is included in the birth certificate; this does not constitute an acknowledgment of parentage for the purposes of the Family Relationship Act 1975 or any other law, however.
At any stage, you can withdraw your consent for donation.
In South Australia, we are required to contact you annually to reaffirm your consent for your sperm to be used. If you do not consent, your sperm will be removed from storage and disposed of. Recipients who have chosen you as a donor will be advised and the sperm removed from their allocation. Please note that any embryos created and frozen can still be used by recipients.
Once a child is born, their information will be provided to the SA Donor Conception Register. When a child reaches the age of 18, they have the right to access your information through the register.
All of this will be discussed in detail with you by our counsellors.
In Australia, the donation of reproductive material must be 'altruistic' i.e. done for the benefit of others, not for payment. It is actually illegal to pay donors. However, we ensure there are no out-of-pocket costs for donors.
This varies from donor to donor. Donation appointments continue until an appropriate number of samples are frozen. The Lab and Donor Coordinator will keep you informed of the number of appointments required.
The donor pathway includes two counselling sessions. If you have a partner, they will need to attend at least one of these.
Counselling provides the time and space for you to explore the emotional aspects of donation as well as discuss future scenarios. For example, how you may feel about having offspring that you may never meet, or conversely how you will feel if they reach out to you as adults.
In the past in Australia donation was anonymous and a growing cohort of donor-conceived children are now searching for answers about their donors - and therefore about themselves.
Legislation now stipulates that on reaching the age of 18 any donor-conceived person can request and receive identifying details of their donor.
This information is housed in a central Donor Conception Register run by SA Health.
You are under no obligation to meet or maintain contact, however, we find that in most cases donors are in fact open to answering questions about themselves, and their medical history.
One of the advantages of donating sperm is that you'll have Expanded Carrier Screening for recessive genetic conditions. Most people in fact are carriers of at least one genetic condition without realising it because it doesn't affect their health. Future offspring can be at risk of inheriting a genetic disease when reproductive partners are both carriers of the same faulty gene.
Should you be a carrier of a genetic condition, you will have this talked through with you by a Genetic Counsellor so your partner or family can be screened if and when required. Please be aware that occasionally genetic screening can show that you are a carrier for a condition that may make you ineligible for donation.