Welcoming a child is one of life’s greatest joys, and everyone’s journey is unique.
Whether your need donor sperm, donor eggs, surrogacy, artificial insemination or in-vitro fertilization (IVF), our heartfelt mission is to help individuals and couples in building their family.
SRM also offers fertility preservation services for those not quite ready to start a family, and also to individuals prior to gender-affirming treatments.
“SRM is absolutely and completely supportive towards the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole.” – Jessica
Your most common Questions
FAQs
LGBTQI+ Family Building FAQs
In general, there a two main options for sperm donors. One is an anonymous sperm donor through an agency, or sperm bank. The second is a “known” or “directed” donor in which a person known to you donates sperm. There are pros and cons for both anonymous and known sperm donors. Your provider can help you to decide which is best for you.
Before you choose a donor/bank make sure you notify your provider and/or care coordinator to make sure it is an approved bank and to help facilitate transfer of your purchased sperm to SRM.
Things to consider when choosing a sperm bank may include cost, donor selection and availability, cost and logistics of shipping to SRM, and quality guarantees.
A few of the things to consider when choosing your donor include characteristics/traits that are important to you and/or your partner, has the donor caused any pregnancies, and is the donor positive for any genetic diseases.
We partner with the following sperm banks:
- Seattle Sperm Bank
- NW Cryobank
- California Cryobank
- Cryos International
- Fairfax Cryobank
- Xytex
Reciprocal IVF is also called Shared Maternity, Shared Parenthood, or Co-Maternity. It is an option for couples in which both partners have eggs/uteruses. One partner undergoes an IVF cycle in order to retrieve eggs. The eggs are then fertilized using donor sperm to create embryos. An embryo is then transferred into the other partner’s uterus. It is a wonderful way for each parent to share a role in the creation of their child.
There are two options for findings an egg donor. You can choose an anonymous or agency donor from an egg bank. Or you may choose to use a “known” or “directed” donor. For example, some patients may ask the sibling of their partner to be their egg donor. Whether you choose an egg bank or a known donor your donor coordinator will guide you through the process.
Traditional surrogacy is when the egg donor also carries the pregnancy. We do not offer traditional surrogacy at SRM.
Yes – we have many resources on reproductive law and refer you to a professional who can help you to navigate your situation.
Possibly. We still don’t know to what extent gender-affirming hormones such as estrogen and testosterone impact sperm and eggs.
If you are on estrogen and/or spironolactone: You will likely need to complete a semen analysis to see if you are currently producing sperm while on your hormones. Depending on these results you may need to come off your hormones prior to freezing sperm. In this case, your provider will recommend how long your time off hormones should be.
If you are taking testosterone: We don’t yet have the research to know if and for how long a person should be off testosterone prior to freezing their eggs. There are many proposed recommendations but no consensus at this time. 4-8 weeks is the most common recommendation, but your provider can help you decide what amount of time is best for you.
This is a very common concern for transgender, gender non-binary, and gender queer individuals. We understand that reproductive and fertility care can be anxiety-provoking for some. We are committed to providing you with the most sensitive and compassionate care. Talk with your provider about your concerns. In many cases we can have options or alternatives to prevent or mitigate triggers leading to dysphoria.