I worked in an andrology lab for a while, so here’s how we worked things.
There are several ‘base’ requirements every lab has.
You need to be healthy, and have a family history free and clear of too many health conditions (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.) You must know your family history on both sides of the family up through grandparents.
There is generally a minimum requirement of one year of college, our lab didn’t take anyone with less than an associates, and I know some require up to a grad degree. The associates degree was the requirement-on-paper, but from what I remember, none of the donors we had in the book had less than a BA/BS, most with MS or higher.
The lab can explain what requirments, and there are generally three or four interviews prior to beginning donations, including sperm testing and a physical exam. You need to have viable, strong sperm, and a good count - or you will be bumped from the program because women pay good money for the sperm and insemination - a few hundred dollars a ‘shot’, and it’s such an emotionally frustrating experience when pregnancy doesn’t occur that donors are sorted/eliminated on those figures as well as physical.
The downsides of it are you won’t be paid for at least 6 months - probably closer to 9. You will have to go through the preliminary testing/interviews to make sure you’re a suitable donor, then you need to submit to infectious disease testing. If that’s clear (at this point it’s about 3 months into the game), then you can start donating. Our lab (pretty typical) was two days a week, at $40 a donation (which I think is pretty high). The samples are frozen with a six month incubation period, at which point you are tested again for infectious disease. You continue to donate during the incubation period, but your samples are not used for insemination. After testing is complete, your sperm is put on the donor list, you start being paid (and ‘back pay’ for the samples that are released from quarantine) and you can continue to donate. There is a maximum number of pregnancies you are allowed to, er, participate in, and you need to continue the health screening periodically throughout the entire period of time you remain a donor - you need to be sure you’re going to be able to participate in the program for at least a year, really. It’s actually much more of a commitment that it seems. It’s definitely not something you can do to make a few dollars quickly. A good portion of our donors were medical residents who knew they’d be around 4 years, had no personal lives due to the fact they were so busy, and needed the extra cash.
If you are seriously considering pursuing it, check with a university hospital system - they also generally have other opportunities for sperm donation (research rather than to inseminate women) you have a better chance of being accepted into the donor program. (We calculated that about 2-3% of all people who initially inquire into it actually become donors. The coordinators of donor programs know what they need to have available based on women’s preferences and try to retain a ‘pool’ of available sperm samples. (I see now, re-reading, you said there’s a medical school there. Check with that hospital system.)
Lessee. What else. Oh. You’re also required 48 hours of abstinence prior to donation. (if your count is low, you aren’t paid for the sample)
I could go on and on and on about it, but I’ll quit before I ramble. Email me if you have any questions - I’d be glad to answer.
Pepperlandgirl - I can explain the ovum donation program to you if you want to hear about it as well.
