Sperm cryo freeze - doctor permission required?!

[Kendra]

I'm in Seattle.  I contacted Pacific Northwest Fertility and was surprised when they said I need a letter from a medical provider first.  Really?  Is medical school really necessary to determine whether I'm qualified to deposit something into a cup?  $500 cover charge plus $350 per year.

Should I take care of this by mail instead, any suggestions?  I haven't checked Amazon yet  :-)

[AnonyMs]

Any chance it's insurance related?

[Ellement_of_Freedom]

I needed a referral from my doctor to freeze my sperm, too! Very weird.

[Daniellekai]

Same thing here, thought it was weird, but with this condition it's not hard at all to get that referral from the one to prescribe the medicine. It does delay things a couple weeks though.

[Kendra]

No insurance involved.

If standard industry practice requires doctor permission for this transaction, I don't understand the reasoning.  How can a person be medically damaged by freezing their sperm?  The setup fees include several tests to check quality and condition.

Are online / mail-in sperm banks a good alternative, and are they willing to accept a customer without doctors written permission?