News from our partners: Fertility Centre appeals for donors to help give the incredible ‘gift’ of a family

News from our partners Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

Fertility experts in Shropshire are appealing for donors to help couples and single women fulfil their dream of having a family.

The Shropshire and Mid Wales Fertility Centre is appealing for men who are aged between 18 and 41-years-old and who want to help others, to become sperm donors.

Jason Kasraie, Head of Fertility Services at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) which runs the Fertility Centre, said:

“For many people, using donated sperm is the only chance they have of fulfilling their dream to have a family.

“There are many reasons why people use donated sperm. Around half of all cases where couples are unable to get pregnant naturally are sperm-related. This is usually because the man isn’t producing enough sperm or the sperm is of low quality – but it can also be a side effect of treatments for conditions such as cancer.

“Some men with serious inherited diseases in their family may want to use donated sperm to avoid passing the disease onto their children; while women in same sex couples and single women will also need donor sperm to have a family.”

Jason, a Consultant Clinical Embryologist and Andrologist, added:

“Donating sperm is an incredible altruistic gift. Donors have no legal rights or parental responsibilities for children born from a donation as long as they donate through a Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) licenced UK fertility clinic like the Shropshire and Mid Wales Fertility Centre.”

Sperm donors should normally be aged between 18 and 41-years-old, however, in some rare cases, the clinic might allow an older donor to donate their sperm if they feel there are unlikely to be any serious consequences.

Donors will also need to have various health tests for diseases like HIV and Hepatitis, which can take up to six months.

They will be asked to provide some personal information. Some non-identifying information will be available to the hopeful parents at the time of donation, while identifying information will be available to any children conceived with a donation when they reach 18 years old.

The Shropshire and Mid Wales Fertility Centre, which is based at the Severn Fields Health Village in Shrewsbury, has one of the highest success rates in fertility treatment in the West Midlands and Wales.

An NHS Assisted Conception Centre, it offers the latest in assisted conception methods and technology to both NHS and private patients.

The Centre is fully regulated and licensed by the HFEA, the UK’s independent regulator. The HFEA licenses fertility clinics and centres carrying out In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), other assisted conception procedures and human embryo research.

For more information, contact 01743 261202, option 3 to speak to a member of the scientific team.