Blog written by Laboratory Staff IS

Most people don’t often think about the sperm bank right across town. Unless they are struggling with fertility issues, it’s just not something that enters the mind on a regular basis. So when they meet me, your local sperm banker, their reactions tend to be some variation on surprise.

“Oh yeahhh! I never thought about how that job exists…but of course, it makes sense that it does?”

Or –

“There’s a sperm bank in town?”

It is in these moments that I am no longer just a girl at a (insert social situation here), but EMBASSADOR OF THE SPERM BANKING industry. I happily answer questions about how truly anonymous the anonymous donors are, details about the ID options program, and the statistical improbability of ever meeting potential offspring on the street. When they ask me about what I actually do, I tell them about the science of sperm freezing, quickly followed by a joke about how glad I am it’s not the type of job where you take your work home. I have an awareness that that my audience will, when they get home, turn to their significant other and say, “You’ll never guess who I met today!” and I guess I want to know that the story will be a good one.

Mostly I get peppered with questions that are easily answered. Sometimes I encounter someone whose notions of what it means to be a sperm donor/sperm banker are pre-conceived (pun intended) and negative. I have to remind myself that because I work in this industry everyday, it’s not shocking to me. But people need time to adjust to the idea that there are lab workers whose job it is to analyze sperm. To adjust to the notion that people get paid for sperm specimens. I use these opportunities to tell them that sperm banking is not just for the donor program, but for people who may be undergoing chemotherapy or hormone replacement therapy. I explain donating sperm is not unlike donating blood or bone marrow; they are giving the gift of life. And with the exception of the blood testing and physicals, I am told that it is a pleasant experience for the donors.

Maybe this entry is not so much a confession, since I’m pretty outspoken about my job and the intricacies of sperm. If a confession is to be made, it is that I wish there was more awareness of process by the general public. The day that there is no stigma attached to infertility or to donating sperm, the day I can bypass the getting-to-know-you-red-herring that is my job, will be an awesome day. Not much of a confession, I admit, but if my end goal is to educate and inspire dialogue, then a bit of a misleading title was surely worth a few extra readers. Hey, I got you to read it.

Blog written by Laboratory Staff Zachary K.

I would like to begin this entry with a quote by Anthony Robbins. “Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” While thinking about this quote I realized that life truly is a gift often left unappreciated. Being able to assist someone in the process of creating life is a tremendously rewarding opportunity. As I get older, I think more and more about starting a family of my own. I have begun to understand the joy children can bring to others lives. Because of this, I am so happy to be doing what I do.

Although the work I do is mostly processing and shipping specimens, I still feel that at the end of the day I am making a difference in somebody’s life. Not many people get to say that about their job. It is especially rewarding to receive cards from families that have gone through our program to select their donor and move forward in creating their family. Seeing the genuine smiles on their faces, knowing that I had some small part in that process is extremely gratifying. I can only imagine how it must feel to the donors to be able to directly help a family be able to conceive. As corny as it may sound, life truly is the greatest gift someone can give and I am so happy to be part of a company that is able to do that.

Blog written by Cryogenic Laboratories, Inc. Site Manager Amy Erickson Hagen

Happy Holidays!  You ask why do I say that, it is the middle of January?  I was just reminded last week how truly happy the holidays make me working at Cryogenic Laboratories, Inc.  I received a late coming Holiday card last week.  We have gotten a card from this family for the past 4 years and it didn’t arrive in December as usual so I figured they went to the FaceBook method of updating everyone and ditched sending the family photo. 

However, just last week I opened a card from one of my favorite families and was so excited to see their smiling faces.  What makes this family so special is that when they first contacted me they had been trying to adopt for almost 8 years unsuccessfully.  I knew the moment these two men sat down in my office they would be excellent parents.  They finally decided to move to the next step and go to IVF with the use of an anonymous egg donor and sister of one of the men to carry the baby.  Everyone was excited and all on board.  They were ready to start the next day and then they realized they would be considered directed donors. 

Since they were homosexual men they were not eligible to be donors and at the time AATB did not have a means for exemption for homosexual men to be directed donors under their policy.  Therefore CLI wrote a request for exemption to AATB asking to reconsider their policy and it was accepted.  This exemption request then transferred to the standards committee where the AATB standard was modified to allow all homosexual men to be directed donors so this would never be an issue for other men going forward. 

Interestingly enough during this brief time it took for AATB to review and allow the exemption they found out they were selected by a birth parent and would be soon the parents of a little girl.  By soon, I mean within 3 weeks.  They were ecstatic and I remember the first time they brought this little girl into my office.  She had the most beautiful skin and gorgeous eyes.  I figured they would wait a bit to bank their directed donor semen but with their little one only a few weeks old they were in banking their semen and preparing for their IVF cycle later the following year. 

I now look at their holiday picture with each of these handsome men holding a beautiful little girl and am overjoyed that I could assist with making them a family. The card didn’t make it before 2011 arrived as it always had years prior but you can see by the smiles on their faces they are all enjoying each other!