A Perfect Match conducts its own prescreening of donors for the sole purpose of determining acceptance into our donor program. Our donor prescreening includes the following:

• A profile completed by donor
• A genetic questionnaire completed by the donor
• Photos of donor and donor’s family
• Official test scores and transcripts.
• Documents of donor’s personal identity—driver’s license, school ID, passport
• Records of any previous donations (received directly from the IVF center)
• Any other documentation deemed necessary to make APM’s final decision to list or not list a donor candidate in our program

When a donor is matched with an intended parent, we will provide the following to the IVF center:

• Donor’s profile and genetic questionnaire provided to us by donor
• Copy of donor’s driver’s license and photo
• Any previous cycle records received from IVF centers
• Psychological clearance (as applicable)

A Perfect Match does its best to select candidates based on our experience with IVF center donor criteria. If a candidate does not meet basic requirements, he is generally not accepted into our donor program due to the low chance the donor can pass the IVF clinic screening. However, the IVF center always makes the final determination of eligibility.

Only an IVF center determines the final eligibility of the donor for sperm donation. Only an IVF center can provide or request medical and genetic testing and screening of the donor. Because each IVF center has its own donor criteria, a center requires a donor to complete its own documentation to determine the donor’s eligibility. The IVF center conducts a personal interview with the donor to obtain his family history, infectious disease history, and to complete a genetic risk assessment. This interview may be via video call or in person. All donor screening requirements—including medical, genetic, and psychological screenings—are determined by the IVF center. The following are required by most IVF centers:

Genetic Consult and Genetic Screening
The cost of a genetic consult is paid for by intended parents. The genetic counselor will discuss the findings with the donor. Some counselors will discuss the sperm donor’s consult with intended parents (without giving contact information) but others charge an additional fee to discuss the findings with intended parents, so it can be determined if the donor and intended parents share any potential genetic traits that could cause an issue for a child. Any genetic testing of the donor or the intended parents is determined by and ordered by the IVF center. You will have access to your test results.

Psychological Screening

This evaluation detects psychological issues of a donor, as well as ensures the sperm donor fully understands the long- term and emotional aspects of donation. Although all IVF centers require psychological screening of donors, some IVF centers have their own in-house psychologist to provide the testing and evaluation and he/she determines whether to accept the donor candidate. Centers that do not have their own psychologist on staff require this screening to be done by a licensed mental health professional acceptable to the IVF center. A previous evaluation may be accepted by the IVF center if it is less than a year old.

A PAI, MMPI, or similar personality assessment is conducted with the donor during as part of the psychological screening. The mental health professional will meet with the donor for a personal evaluation to discuss the donor’s history, his understanding of the sperm donation process, and his commitment to the process. (During COVID, testing may be done remotely, and evaluations may be done by phone or video chat) The mental health professional generates a written assessment of the donor’s psychological suitability for a donor cycle. This assessment is submitted to the IVF center for their final approval and determination of the donor’s eligibility, and APM receives a copy for our files. Intended parents will not receive the actual test results or assessment.

Medical Screening

This screening is performed by either the primary IVF center or a monitoring physician approved by the primary IVF center. The IVF physician will review the donor’s existing medical records and conduct a medical history interview. The medical screening will be based on the donor’s history and the IVF center’s specific protocol. A semen analysis will be required to determine the quality of the sperm and its ability to survive a freeze and thaw. The center will also do blood testing to determine whether the donor meets FDA eligibility requirements. To understand more about FDA eligibility, please read the following, which starts with section VI for gamete donors: www.fda.gov/media/73072/download

 

What are the qualifications for a donor?

A sperm donor must be of legal age and no older than 40 years old and be within normal BMI. He must have a good medical, mental health, and genetic family history. He must live a healthy lifestyle, must not have any drug or alcohol issues, must not be a smoke or vape, must not take medications not prescribed to him by a primary physician, and must practice safe sex techniques to prevent STDs. While not mandatory, most intended parents prefer the donor is in college or has a college education.