Donor Medical Status is a donor classification
that indicates if a donor has been restricted due to a significant
medical issue in an offspring. Not all medical issues reported result in
a restriction. Those determined to increase the risk to other offspring
do result in the donor being restricted. To the best of our knowledge,
all donors start the program without known significant medical or
hereditary issues in themselves or their offspring. But a donor’s
medical status can change with time. He may now be restricted for
medical issues or be under investigation, in which case we want you
fully informed. Read more about how we inform clients about these medical issues. Information on donor availability is not provided as part of this system.
Who should use Donor Medical Status?
If you purchased units and still have them stored offsite, we are
encouraging everyone with a Fairfax Cryobank donor semen sample or an
embryo created from that semen to check your donor medical status prior
to use in a fertility procedure. Donor Medical Status can also inform
families who already have a child with this donor if there are issues
with the donor that may affect them. This process also allows you to
check donor medical status at regular intervals once your child is born
or while your units are in long term storage. If you prefer to contact
us directly, please do so by calling Client Services at 800-338-8407.
How do I check my Donor’s Medical Status?
A recent donor search upgrade allows clients to see the donor’s status directly on the donor search. Start by going to the Donor Search and put your donor number into the ‘Search by ID’ box. The donor’s status will appear on his donor page in the upper left page. Options for status include: Active, Inactive, Investigation, Restricted.
An alternative system is this log in system:
To check on the status of a donor you will need to have ONE of the following:
your customer ID number or
physician account number or
order number from your invoice or packing slip
and your donor number
Error messages may be explained by going to the FAQs
on this page. If you are having problems or do not have this
information, please call Client Services at 800-338-8407. International
clients can contact Client Services for the Fairfax Cryobank account
number to use or contact the International distributor directly.
Check Donor Medical Status- Fairfax Cryobank Donors
Check Donor Medical Status- Cryogenic Laboratories, Inc (CLI) Donors
What are the different donor medical status classifications?
NO RESTRICTION: This donor is not restricted and has no
investigations pending. Use of this specimen is considered appropriate
at his time. No increased risks for significant medical conditions in
donor offspring have been identified.
UNDER INVESTIGATION: A report of a medical problem in one of the
offspring has been reported. Collection of medical records and waiting
for possible testing results are currently in progress. An evaluation by
the Medical Geneticist is ongoing. No final decision has been made as
to future risk to other offspring from this donor. More information can
be obtained by calling 1-800-338-8407 and asking for the Genetic
Counselor. Provide the donor number and describe your situation when
calling.
TESTING NOT CURRENT: The donor met and passed all Fairfax Cryobank
testing standards at the time he was donating and when his units sold in
the past. This donor is not restricted and has no investigations
pending. Any future sales of this donor require that the purchaser be
made aware of the testing issues for this donor and review, sign and
return an informed consent document that includes this information.
Request details and/or a copy of the informed consent document from
Client Services at 800-338-8407.
See common examples of the tests that result in this ‘Testing Not Current’ status.
All Testing Not Current donors have units stored for clients onsite with Fairfax Cryobank or may on rare occasion have units for sale. Once all units of a donor are gone (sold out and all stored units have been shipped off site) the Testing Not Current donor will change status to No Restriction.
RESTRICTED: An offspring with medical issues believed to increase
risk to other offspring has been reported. Use of this specimen is not
recommended. Please contact our genetic counselor for details at
800-338-8407. Specimens from this donor may be used after you review,
sign and return an informed consent document to us. Often there is only a
small risk with many issues present at birth or not at all. If you have
a child by this donor already there may only be a minimal risk. Call
for details.
Our policy for a medical restriction is to inform all clients who
purchased vials and all doctors of record who had those vials shipped to
their offices. The doctors also receive the name of the client that
purchased that donor. The medical update will be relavant only for
those clients who have conceived, had a child and or have vials or
embryos in storage.
More FAQs
I am entering my account information correctly but I keep getting an error message?
You could receive an error message for numerous reasons. Please be
assured that this does not mean there is a problem with your donor. Here
are a few reasons for error messages and what you can do to remedy
them:
Your information is not entered correctly – please review your invoice or packing slip.
Order number – found in the upper right hand corner
Customer ID – found directly under the “bill to” box
Account number – found in the upper right hand corner – this is the physician’s account under which you placed the order
All donor numbers have at least 4 digits and/or letters – if you are entering a 3 digit donor number try adding a 0 in front of the number
Your purchase may have occurred prior to the conversion into our current computer system – please call 800-338-8407 for assistance.
My donor semen was ordered by my doctor’s office, I don’t have a customer number. How can I access the donor’s medical status?
If you are an international client, or units were ordered for you by
your doctor’s office, you will not have a customer number. You can
contact Client Services and
provide them your name, name of the physician’s group that ordered your
donor sperm for you and the donor number. With this information, Client
Services will be able to email you your donor’s medical status.
Why would a donor become restricted?
A child has been reported with a medical condition that could pose an
increased risk to other children born from this same donor. An example
would be a child born with a rare disease where we determine the donor
and mother are both carriers. Other offspring would have a small risk,
typically less than 1%. In the general population every pregnancy has
about a 3%-4% risk of producing a child with a birth defect or mental
deficiency. Our extensive screening and testing reduces this risk, but
cannot eliminate it. We ask physicians and clients to notify us whenever
they believe a child born by donor sperm has any medical condition. In
the rare cases when we receive such notice, we immediately remove that
donor from sale and investigate the report. While we are gathering
information the donor’s status will be “Under Investigation.” We ask for
a physician’s written diagnosis, and a family, medical and pregnancy
history on the mother. If our Medical Director determines that using the
donor could increase the risk of the occurrence of a medical condition
and/or birth defect above the risk in the general population, we will
restrict that donor, meaning that his sperm is no longer available for
sale to the general public. This type of restriction applies to all
units that were sold and are unused regardless of when they were
purchased. An investigation can take as little as a day to resolve but
can also take several months as we communicate with medical personnel
and family members about a situation. An investigation that does not
result in a restriction allows the donor to return to a No Restriction
status. For more information, please see the Donor and Offspring Evaluation page.
Why do I need to check donor medical status prior to use?
We want you to have complete and up-to-date medical information prior
to using any unit so that you can make an informed decision about the
use of that unit. If you have purchased a unit, had it shipped and
stored offsite for a period of time, there is a small chance the donor’s
status may have changed. Other couples may be pursuing IVF and have
embryos stored for future use. You need to know if there is a
restriction or an ongoing investigation before you inseminate or
transfer an embryo using that donor’s semen. We do attempt to contact
purchasers of restricted donors through their physician of record, but
that system may not work well for everyone. This online system is
designed as a back-up system so that patients can check their donor’s
status 24/7 prior to use of their donor sperm.
How does Fairfax Cryobank contact clients with the news of a restriction or investigation?
There are certain circumstances where we do not contact clients with
updates. We do not contact clients about ongoing investigations. For a
donor in investigation we want to resolve the outstanding questions,
verify the medical information and discuss the outcome with our
geneticists. If an increased risk does indeed exist, the donor will be
restricted for medical cause.
Our policy for a medical restriction is to inform all clients who
purchased vials and all doctors of record who had those vials shipped to
their offices. The doctors also receive the name of the client that
purchased that donor. The medical update will be relavant only for
those clients who have conceived, had a child and or have vials or
embryos in storage.
Patients can also stay informed of their donor medical status through this new online process.
Do I need to call Fairfax Cryobank if my donor conceived child has a significant medical issue?
Yes, we would like to know: please contact Client Services. It is not
unusual for us to hear that a problem is being discussed in an online
chat room, yet never has been officially reported to us. We have a
genetic counselor who can address issues with you privately. When we
receive notice of a medical problem with one of our donor’s offspring,
we immediately remove that donor from sale and investigate the report.
We carefully gather as much information as possible, including a
physician’s written diagnosis and a family history on the mother. To
learn more about medical updates, please visit our Donor and Offspring Evaluation page.
Units sold previously still fully comply with the standard of testing
in place at the time of the purchase. All the testing a donor did
undergo was negative and/or did not increase risks to the recipients.
The testing standard in place when his units sold was considered
satisfactory at the time. If we are unable to perform the upgraded
testing on the donor (he may no longer be donating and/or not be readily
available for testing and/or have only a few units left for purchase)
he will be placed into the ‘Testing Not Current’ status. All Testing Not
Current donors have units stored for clients onsite with Fairfax
Cryobank or may on rare occasion have units for sale. Once
all units of a donor are gone (sold out and all stored units have been
shipped off site) the Testing Not Current donor will change status to No
Restriction. See the current testing standards of our donors.
Two of the most common examples are described below: Cystic
Fibrosis(CF) screening of donors started many years ago. As the years
passed the technology became better and more and more mutations within
the CF gene were identified. We went from testing approximately 10
mutations for CF in the 1990s to testing over 80 mutations in 2005.
Donors tested for CF MUST test negative to be a donor. The amount of
mutations tested determines the donors underlying risk of being a
carrier. If 16 mutations are tested negative, the residual risk is
1/185. If 86 mutations test negative, the risk goes down to 1/325. Both
risks are less than 1%. Once families understand the testing limits,
units can be sold to families who desire full siblings. Thus we require
an Informed Consent be reviewed, signed and returned prior to shipping
the units. Placing the ‘Testing Not Current ‘status on this donor allows
us to carefully monitor how the units are sold today. Remember, units
sold previously still fully comply with the Fairfax Cryobank standard of
testing in place at the time of the purchase. Infectious disease
testing methodology upgrade: With the advent of DNA technology we have
been able to progress from doing culture based testing (serology) to
actually looking for the DNA of the infectious agent in the blood or
semen (NAT testing by PCR). Our parent company, the Genetics & IVF
Institute, has been at the forefront of this technology since its
inception in 1983. Our sperm bank testing standards continue to be at
the cutting edge, setting standards for the other sperm banks to follow.
Once families understand the testing limits, units can be sold to
families who desire full siblings. Thus we require an Informed Consent
be reviewed, signed and returned prior to shipping the units. Placing
the ‘Testing Not Current’ status on this donor allows us to carefully
monitor how the units are sold today. Remember, units sold previously
still fully comply with the Fairfax Cryobank standard of testing in
place at the time of the purchase.
I don’t know if my pregnancy or birth has been reported to you- what should I do?
Please report your pregnancies and births on-line and we will
determine if it has already been reported. It is very important that we
hear from everyone who has successfully had a pregnancy and/or birth
with one of our donors. It allows us to monitor offspring births and
comply with our standards for limiting the number of family units and
geographic distribution of a donor’s offspring. (See details of our
policy on Limiting Donor Births.)
Pregnancies and births can now be reported to us online by families. If
you have not reported your pregnancy to us or are unsure if your doctor
reported it to us earlier, please do so now. Report a Pregnancy or Birth Here.
I want to know if the donor I am interested in still has
units for sale. Will donor medical status tell me about donor
availability?
Donor Status is not intended to provide availability information.
Here is how you can check availability: Your donor is a No Restriction
donor: go to the online donor search
feature of our site. If the donor number does not appear after you
click ‘Search’, then the donor is sold out. If you place the donor
number in the ‘Search by ID’ field, availability is indicated on the
page that comes up. Your donor is an Under Investigation
donor: These donor do appear on the donor search, after placing the
donor number into ‘Search by ID’. The status will be in the upper left
page. Donor information continues ot be available for download. You can
always call Client Services at 800-338-8407 for a a status update. Your donor is a Testing Not Current donor: call Client Services at 800-338-8407. These donors will not appear on the donor search. Purchase of available units requires an informed consent Your donor is a Restricted
donor: These donor do appear on the donor search, after placing the
donor number into ‘Search by ID’. The status will be in the upper left
page. Donor information continues ot be available for download. You can
always call Client Services at
800-338-8407 for a a status update. If units are available they may be
sold only to those families who desire a full sibling and only after a
signed informed consent has been received.
Due to test availability at the time of donation, a given donor may not have been tested for the tests or methodology indicated. As technology changes over time, donor testing options for different donors will vary at any time.
