Sperm donation (donor sperm)

When it is used

The UK fertility regulator, the HFEA, says a clinic is likely to recommend donor conception if:

• “you're not producing eggs or sperm of your own”
• “your own sperm or eggs are unlikely to result in a pregnancy”
• “you have a high risk of passing on an inherited disease”

Whether it is appropriate in a particular case is a clinical decision for the treating doctor. This directory does not make that judgement.

How donor sperm is used

Donor sperm can be used in IUI: the HFEA says IUI “may be performed with your partner's sperm or donor sperm (known as donor insemination).” It can also be used in IVF or ICSI.

On screening, the HFEA says “Donated sperm usually has to be quarantined for three or six months and screened for infections before it can be used by a recipient.”

What the regulator says about risks

The HFEA warns against home insemination with unscreened sperm: “If you do this and you don't get the sperm tested obviously there's a serious risk of diseases being passed onto your child, which is why we don't recommend it.”

What India's ART Act says

Section 27(1): “The screening of gamete donors, the collection, screening and storage of semen; and provision of oocyte donor, shall be done only by a bank registered as an independent entity under the provisions of this Act.”

Section 27(2)(a) requires banks to “obtain semen from males between twenty-one years of age and fifty-five years of age, both inclusive”. Section 27(3): “A bank shall not supply the sperm or oocyte of a single donor to more than one commissioning couple.” Section 21 says “a clinic shall never mix semen from two individuals for the procedures specified under this Act”.

Section 27(6) requires the bank to take a written undertaking from each donor “about the confidentiality of such information.” Ask a clinic which registered ART bank it works with.

Questions

Where must donor sperm come from in India?

Section 27(1) of the ART Act says the collection, screening and storage of semen “shall be done only by a bank registered as an independent entity under the provisions of this Act.”

How old must a sperm donor be?

Section 27(2)(a) says “between twenty-one years of age and fifty-five years of age, both inclusive”.

Is donor sperm used in IUI or IVF?

Either. The HFEA says IUI “may be performed with your partner's sperm or donor sperm (known as donor insemination).”

Sources

• HFEA, Using donated eggs, sperm or embryos in treatment, read 25 September 2026.
• HFEA, Intrauterine insemination (IUI), read 25 September 2026.
• HFEA, Sperm freezing, read 25 September 2026.
• The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (No. 42 of 2021), read 25 September 2026.
• Clinic data: each clinic's own website, as read by this directory; registry level from the National ART & Surrogacy Registry extract.