Pre-HRT Sperm Banking

[pidgeontoed]

Hi all, haven't posted in awhile, but I'm thinking about the future again and, though I don't have the money for it currently, I have the number of an Endocrinologist in the area and that brings up some questions. I know personally that I want to have children, and my girlfriend is on board as well. So, I have been looking at sperm banks in the area. Wanted to check with the folks here before I make any plans to call. I'm hoping that this thread can become a discussion where we can share information on the process and preparations as I couldn't find many complete threads in the search with info. I'll be sure to share what I find as I go along.

Note: Please keep personal opinions on banking sperm and the concept of fathering a child and being a mother to it at the same time out of this thread. This is my personal decision, I'm okay with the idea, and I want to keep this discussion to the facts. Thank you

A few ponderings to consider...

1) Should I be worried about discrimination?

What I mean by this is, I imagine that I'll have to tell them that I'm doing it for my personal use in the future and may have to explain why I am so certain I won't be able to make my own. I have never interacted with a sperm bank and I assume that they would be blind-eye third parties in a live-and-let-live fashion. However, the thought has crossed my mind if I should keep the details of the situation to myself for fear of refusal of service. There's only two good ones in the state that I've found and I don't want to risk it.

2) How much sperm should I plan to save?

I suppose this is a question for the bank itself, but just wondering if any girls on here have done it successfully. I'm not sure on the success rate of IVF (which is how I assume it's done?), so any personal experience on this end would be helpful.

3) Should I try to bank at two different locations (if funds are available)?

As a photographer, I know how important it is to keep redundant backups in case of a product failure (ie. hard drive going bad). Do you think that this concept translates to sperm banking? If one business tanks, the other is still safe. (My apologies for the strange analogy, though I do think of my archived photographs as potential future children in a way )

These are just a few things off the top of my head that I thought of. Feel free to ask/answer your own questions as well. Thanks!

[Cindy]

As ever it depends where you are and what facility you use. I'm in Australia. If you are paying for banking you can tell them what ever you want (that is you don't have to tell them you are TG etc), if it is for your own partners use. BUT you have to have a legal document saying who the sperm is for and under what circumstance and when it can and cannot be used. It HAS to be stated in your will if your sperm can be used by your partner after your death. Your partner has to be clearly identified. These rules probably vary from country to country. You should consult a lawyer.

You will get a health check and assessed for STD's etc and the health of your sperm will be assessed. You may have this done some time before donation and given health advice to improve the sperm quality.

Most sperm banks store in multiple LN2 tanks that are on automatic feeds and should never thaw out. The risk of tank failure should be small. Different companies will give different time lines for storage and this will affect the cost. Sperm disposal is governed by law, at least in Australia, and the laws tend to be rigorous.

The success of IVF is quite high but is governed by many factors that are related and non-related to sperm quality. These include and are not limited to the fertility drugs, the health of the eggs, the health of the sperm, the success of implantation, the general health of the woman etc.

People with fertile testes produce about 100 million sperm a day, you require theoretically one, but more accurately several to fertilise an egg. One fertilises but the external membrane of the egg apparently require several sperm to 'weaken' it.

I'm pretty sure there are no guarantees..

How many ejaculates are stored will probably depend upon your willingness to pay, and your sperm fertility.  I would get professional advice on this.

Hope that helps a little

Cindy

[Naturally Blonde]

Sounds great! I wish I was able to produce sperm before I started transitioning but my testo levels were very low back then even in my early 20's! I've always envied those lucky enough to have children.

[Ashley_C]

Great topic. I was wondering this myself.

[Raya]

(NB: I live in the US, all my experiences reflect that)

I banked mine late last year, just before starting hormones. Basically it broke down like this:

tl;dr version

Date	Reason	Out of Pocket (USD)	Insurance Paid (USD)
2011-09-30	Appointment for First Consultation	-	-
2011-10-11	STD Screen*	15	140
2011-11-03	First Consultation	225	0
2011-11-10	Deposit #1	120	0
2011-11-15	Deposit #2	120	0
2011-11-18	Deposit #3	120	0
	Total Cost	600	140

*My endo was able to get my insurance to cover it. According to the statement of benefits, that's how much they paid. If I had to pay out of pocket, they'd have charged me $490!

Long version

(Placeholder for when I get off work)

[Raneth]

When I went to sperm bank they didn't ask me why I was banking so the issue of me being TG never came up.  The hospital said that they stored the sperm in two different locations and that they would keep the sperm for 10 years.  If you can, banking at two different locations might be a good idea, who knows what changes might occur between now and when you want to have children.  The hospital I banked at was recently required to destroy a number samples whose owners hadn't contacted them after 10 years and that they couldn't track down (they refused and the hospital directors are facing jail time).

[ShawnaB]

Hi, my experience in the UK wrt your 3 points are:

1- You don't need to worry about discrimination, at least at the Assisted Pregnancy Unit at Chelsea/Westminster hospital.  They have facilities for private (non-NHS) funded banking and private banking is also a service provided for cancer patients about to undergo chemo and radiation therapy.  You can probably just tell them you're going to undergo medical treatment that will premanently diminish or remove your ability to produce sperm.  I just told them that I wasn transgender and about to start HRT and that was the end of it.  Otherwise, it was straightforward and clinical to arrange.  You need to provide STD/HIV test results from within the last 12 months before you deposit.

2- The recommended amount stored is enough for 15 'normal' attempts.  The odds are basically 40% on 3 attempts for conception, up to 65-70% on 5 attempts or something like that.  This is without a specific manipulation to fertalise an egg, and so could work out to 3-5 conceptions.  This requires an average of 3 banking sessions, although this depends entirely on you.  You can get a separate count and motility test done, or they'll check after your first deposit and advise you then on how many you deposits you should make/consider.

3- I think that's entirely up to you.  Chel/West is a major hospital in London, so I doubt it's going to go anywhere anytime soon.  There don't seem to be any private clinics for that in the UK but I'd want to have some confidence that in 5-10 years it'll still be there. Chel/West (or the NHS) has a policy that they will only store deposits until you are 55.  That gives me plenty of time, so I'm not worried about that one

At present UK costs are about 330/deposit, and then 240/year to continue to store all deposits.

[SandraJane]

Here's some info I posted last year on another thread concerning this subject...

For Egg "banking", it might not be that expensive, compared to Sperm "banking" which averages an initial $1000.00. I spoke with a major Lab that does egg and sperm "banking", storage, Fairfax Cryobank, and here's the cost for sperm storage;

Pricing:
(some people just do the 1st visit, some want to have a second sample frozen.  It's up to you, we recommend seeing how the first sample looks, then deciding).
Initial (1st) visit:
Consultation $150
Semen analysis/freezing $305
Total with blood drawn offsite $455 **see tests below
*If bloodwork is done at Fairfax Cryobank, there is an additional fee of $135

Additional samples frozen (if desired) $305 each

Storage Fees, once samples are frozen (per account, not per sample):
Monthly $40/month
Prepay 1 year $395
Prepay 2 year $670
Prepay 5 year $1340

Required Blood Tests:
HIV-1 Antibody/HIV-2 Antibody   (cpt code 86703)
Hepatitis B surface Antigen            (cpt code 87340)
Hepatitis C Antibody                          (cpt code 86803)

Fertility Clinics and Local Sperm banks more often contract the long term storage of egg and sperm storage to companies like Fairfax Cryobank, and I was also told there was "paperwork" to fill out including documents pertaining to "custody" of the specimen. All in all I'd say it is cheaper than adoption, but how long do you store it? How long is long enough? One day you stop paying the bill and the sample is removed from storage...

I'm of the thought that others have posted also;

the important things is the child itself.  if you're going to look at a child and think its weird cos it isn't your flesh and blood you're not fit to be a parent.  -lilacwoman

Been married "thrice", no children, no plans to have any of my own at this point, I feel more inclined to help raise another's child, than to have my own.

and...

Hope so, why do I feel there's a "little" sarcasm in there...somewhere

But retrieving eggs are more involved than sperm;

How much does it cost to freeze eggs?
Extend Fertility's fees can be as low as $200 per month. Clients should be prepared to spend $9,000-$13,000 for one egg freezing treatment cycle which includes standard medical, science and service fees, egg transportation and the first year of storage. Subsequent treatments are priced between $5,000-$9,000.

In addition to these fees, clients should expect to pay $2,500-$4,000 per treatment cycle for medications that are ordered directly from ivpcare, our specialty pharmacy partner, and several hundred dollars in laboratory costs for required infectious disease screening.

Is egg freezing covered by insurance?
Extend Fertility is not aware of the availability of insurance coverage for elective fertility preservation. However, we encourage individuals to contact their insurance provider directly to understand their personal coverage plan and eligibility for reimbursement.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,111371.msg844294.html#msg844294

[TorontoGirl4Life]

Hey pidgeontoed,

I live in Canada and I had done sperm banking about 3 - 4 years ago. I was told by a former transwoman friend at the time about this clinic that was very accepting and able to do this procedure. I never felt discriminated against, always was taken care of. I think the only awkward aspect of the sperm banking is doing the DEED itself at the time lol.

For me the cost was around 3 grand which I had to give him 6 months worth of cheques to take money out. It was fairly costly and after 5 yrs you just pay another small fee to keep it in there for each year or so. 

Best thing is when you do sperm banking keep in contact with them when your name changes so they got it on file or send them a copy of your name change certificate if you have your name changed already. It helps them keep up with you because if your listed under your prior name they wont remember.

Best of luck on your dreams of sperm banking and parenthood in the future !. Always great to plan ahead :-)

[ShawnaB]

I had a really off-putting experience with Chelsea/Westminister (London, UK) since my last post. I'm not going into details as I'm hoping it was a one off, and I know other people who've had no problem there. 

So, I ended up starting the process over the Andrology Solutions and am so much happier with that experience.  They've had trans women clients before, they're really supportive, including offering advice on how to get extensions on the current 10year storage limit and helping get storage for up to 55 years.  In short, a really great experience with them.  Yes they're a private clinic, but their (more) comprehensive process is actually slightly cheaper than Chel/West would have been. 

The saving grace of Chel/West for me was that they referred me to AS. They didn't however tell me when they scheduled an appointment for me, so I missed that one, but AS were really happy to book another one for two days later I think it was.

[pidgeontoed]

I know this post has been dead for awhile and I'm not attempting to resurrect. I've been going through some hard times financially, personally, and professionally so I haven't been to Susan's in a very long time. Depression is coming back in again and I just don't know what I'm going to do. I can't really afford banking right now but it has been on my mind since day one. I just really want to say how much I appreciate the responses and that I am sorry for being a ghost. I love you all *hug*

[~RoadToTrista~]

Are you sure you can't afford it pidgeontoed? After the initial cost it should be around $100 - $200 a year.

[lilacwoman]

There has recently been a court case in which a woman wished to use the frozen embryos she and her man had banked before she got ovarian cancer(?) and then the relationship ended and the man refused permission for the embryoes to be used and said they must be destroyed as otherwise he would become a father and have all the legal and financial consequences of that to bear for the next 18 years or so.
the court agreed which is awful for the woman but is the only logical legal conclusion as she is free to find another partner and adopt a baby while the man is freed from the possibility that his own family building may be financially compromised by having to provide for one or more embryo babies.

he and she were normal people without the added complication of one being TG.

So you might want to consider how strong your relationship is and whether your woman will really be happy for you to transition.     

[ShawnaB]

There has recently been a court case in which a woman wished to use the frozen embryos she and her man had banked before she got ovarian cancer(?) and then the relationship ended and the man refused permission for the embryoes to be used and said they must be destroyed as otherwise he would become a father and have all the legal and financial consequences of that to bear for the next 18 years or so.
the court agreed which is awful for the woman but is the only logical legal conclusion as she is free to find another partner and adopt a baby while the man is freed from the possibility that his own family building may be financially compromised by having to provide for one or more embryo babies.

So you might want to consider how strong your relationship is and whether your woman will really be happy for you to transition.   

Sperm banking on it's own doesn't involve any of those issues directly.  Sperm is only one half of the equation and as long as you follow whatever the rules are you should be okay.  That being said, in the UK, a surrogate mother who bears a child conceived with your sperm (using her own or a donor egg) is legally the child's mother and you would have to legally adopt the child from her. Normally the surrogacy contract would provide for all of that, but it is within the surrogate mother's right to refuse at the last minute. Adoption and legal parent status is at best tricky business.


With regard to the story above, it's unfortunate that the woman didn't freeze eggs as well as, or instead of, embryos. This would have kept her options open and sadly it appears her relationship didn't last anyway.


To keep my options open, I went through the full donor process and my deposits are held in the highest quarantine level tanks. This provides me the full range of options of donating to a named partner (which has the fewest tests and costs), or using a surrogate (with the surrogate's egg or a donor egg). The only thing I haven't done is the rather expensive genetic screening but that's only required if you're going to give it away. Otherwise it's a nice to have and can potential weed out any rare genetic disorders that you and your partner may unknowingly be dominant carriers for.

[Shana]

Hmmm, this has been something I've been curious about for awhile, Thanks all for the Information

[Adrasteia]

Are you sure you can't afford it pidgeontoed? After the initial cost it should be around $100 - $200 a year.

The initial costs, including 1 year storage, were about $1k at the various banks that I contacted.

[I need a new name]

Try looking at this embryo & egg storage bank[spermbankcalifornia.com/embryo-egg-banking.html]. Please utilize this information and pass it on to other transpeople. I know most of you here are young and have no need for children right now. But trust me, you will change your mind later on once you find your soulmate. Plus, children are a wonderful distraction. If later on you still do not want children, you can always sell your eggs or sperm. It can be very lucrative.