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Choosing a sperm bank

babydustbabydust Posts: 7
in LGBTQ+ Couples
Hi y'all.
We are relatively new here (only posted a few times - here's a shout out to the other CT couple who replied to our other post!)... and wondering how folks chose to go with CA Cryobank. Or with any sperm bank, for that matter.

-- What makes a SB good? Bad?

-- Why did you choose this one? Would you choose it again?

-- What are the pluses/minuses of buying "in bulk" as opposed to vial by vial?

-- How important is LOO?

We're trying to choose between this one and one other (Pacific Reproductive Services). Hope I'm not repeating questions asked/answered elsewhere... if they are, please just redirect me!

Fertile thoughts to us all...

Thanks,
Babydust in CT

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    thesnowawaythesnowaway Posts: 31
    Hi babydust,
    We looked at several banks. This might sound ridiculous but one of the things we liked about this one was the quality of the website – call it trite on my part, or just marketing or whatever, but some that we visited looked like they were made with those old-school free hosting sites (Angelfire, etc. Am I showing my age here? ha). That just gave us confidence, along w/ good things we had read about this bank. Also, we liked how much info they gave out for free, so we were able to get an idea of each donor before we sprung for the paid info.

    We were looking for a donor of a particular ethnicity and we wanted an open donor, and that is a combination that isn’t especially easy to find. Add CMV status to the mix and it cuts down choices even more. CCB gave us options.

    I think there are two main advantages to buying in bulk, at least as far as I can tell. First, if you want additional children w/ the same donor (and we do), you can buy them and leave them there, so they’re all yours when the time comes, even if the rest are sold out (and as long as they're not shipped, they will buy them back if you don't need them). Also, if you buy more than one vial, you can combine the shipping into one. I think the shipping is a couple of hundred bucks or so. We bought multiple vials and had them all shipped to our RE. Our RE stores them for free so long as we’re actively working with him. If we get pg and still have vials left, the RE’s office stores them very cheaply ($100/ year). And of course, if you buy enough, you can free storage w/ CCB, and since their storage fees aren’t especially cheap, it saves money.

    Would we use CCB again? I think so. It’s a little more expensive, but I think they run a tight operation, and we’re confident that they treat same-sex couples with respect, so it’s nice not to worry about that.

    I don’t know what LOO is.

    Next cycle we’ll use our last vial that we have at our RE’s office. If it doesn’t work, we may switch donors (though still at CCB). We’ll probably do the same thing: buy a few vials, have those shipped and stored w/ our RE. Then if we get pg, we’ll buy 6 or 12 and have them stored at CCB until we need them next time.

    Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

    Cindy
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    babydustbabydust Posts: 7
    Cindy,
    Thank you so much for your long and thoughtful answer... and sorry I took so long to reply! I've not been on the site for a while.

    You know, we had the exact same reaction to the website that you did... we really have liked CCB the most so far because of the website, including these chat boards. I'm hoping we'll make our final deicion on a bank this weekend, and I think we'll probably go with CCB.

    We're going to have an appointment soon with our doctor to find out about her storage process and charges, but thanks for the input... it is all so helpful.

    LOO=lesbian owned and operated... not a top priority for our choice, but the other spermbank we're considering says it is (how to prove it???)... but their website isn't as nice!

    Thanks again - and good luck!

    babydust
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    alivinalivin Posts: 143
    I would like to revisit this post and see why people choose CCB vs. say Fairfax for example

    ANy thoughts would greatly be appreciated
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    azyoginiazyogini Posts: 13
    Well, I'm not sure, but I'm leaning fairfax due to the adult photos and due to the fact that they screen for Cystic Fibrosis. Given my ethnicity, my doctor wants me to either be tested for this or make sure I choose a CF negative donor. Thus, I think this could make up my mind for me.

    I am Latina, and we don't have any CF in my family. But I trust the doc's judgment. I'm still not sure though.
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    alivinalivin Posts: 143
    Does CCB not test for cystic fibrosis????
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    alivinalivin Posts: 143
    Yup CCB screens for cystic fibrosis and tay-sachs, just so you know. I liked Fairfax's lifetime photos too, but there werent that many donors available
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    azyoginiazyogini Posts: 13
    I haven't dug that deeply into CCB's website, but this claims they don't.

    http://www.fairfaxcryobank.com/SpermBankComparisons.shtml
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    alivinalivin Posts: 143
    Yeah I looked it up in the search bar in CCB, just put in cystic fibrosis and it says they test for it. Who know the last time Fairfax updated their website or their comparison chart.
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