Naive About Donor Sperm
Blog written by laboratory staff NP
As a recent college graduate, I have only been employed by Fairfax Cryobank for approximately three months. Now, as a new member of the young professional society, the same questions I find are being asked of me: “Where do you work?”, “What do you do?” When I state that I am a laboratory technician at a sperm bank, the reaction of others is usually a chuckle, but more often than not, people are intrigued by it.
I believe that is the case because a lot of people are uneducated about the topic; I admit, before taking the position, I was very naive about this line of work. People are shocked to know that less than one percent of males actually get accepted into the program, and when I continue to tell them there is a screening process requiring three passing specimens, a medical interview, and genetic and disease testing to name a few, people always have a surprised look on their face. Now that I have been involved in this process and have seen what goes into it, I think that I am more surprised that so many people are clueless about what it takes to become a successful donor. People often believe that donors just walk-in, do their “business” and simply receive money for their specimen, which is not the case at all.
Given the impact that a sperm donor can have on eventually producing a life, I am glad to educate more people about the process and the enforcement of accurate and strict standards to produce the best specimen.
