Welcome to TSBC

If your online application has been preliminarily accepted, you are invited into Phase 1 of our screening program.

You will be offered a Test Donation Appointment. We are looking for donors with higher than average sperm counts. If your first Test Donation is found to meet the lab’s minimum requirements, you will be invited to schedule an Intake Interview to determine your eligibility to be a sperm donor.

At the Intake Interview, the donor screening process will be described and a brief family history will be taken. You will be collecting another test donation at this appointment.

If your two test donations are acceptable (they are above average), you will be invited into Phase 2 of the screening program. If your test donations do not meet our minimum lab requirements, we will not be able to continue, and we thank you for your time.

It takes your body two to five days to return to maximum motile sperm count after an ejaculation. For this reason, you need to have at least three days (72 hours) of abstinence before you provide each sperm sample during the screening process. If you do not have at least three days of abstinence, your sample may not meet the lab’s requirements for an acceptable sperm sample. More than four days of abstinence is not recommended. Once donors are accepted into the program, some may find that they can produce acceptable samples with two days of abstinence.

California Family Code states that sperm donors are not considered the legal parents of any children conceived from their sperm. You have no legal or financial responsibilities for any offspring born from your sperm, nor do you have any parental rights. Furthermore, when you are approved as a donor, you will sign a contract that explicitly protects your privacy.

All donors are assigned donor ID numbers, and any appointments, information, or testing is recorded with that number, never your name. Recipients will know only the donor’s number, medical history, and other non-identifying information you provide to us. If you call for information or want to make an appointment, remember to tell us your donor number.

If you become a donor at TSBC, you will be participating in the Identity-Release® Program. All donors are anonymous to recipients and their children. Donors in the Identity-Release® Program give donor-conceived adults (18 years or older) the option to learn their donor’s identity. This program is not designed to create parental or family relationships between donors and offspring. Instead it is about providing information. Our research has found that donor-conceived individuals simply want to learn more about their donor as a way of exploring their own identity. We will give you more information on the Identity-Release® Program later in the screening process.

• The first time you come to our lab, you will provide a TEST DONATION. We are looking for donors who have very high sperm counts.
• If your test donation meets our minimum requirements, you will be offered an Intake Interview at your next visit. You will provide a second test donation at that time.
• If you provide two acceptable test donations, we will continue to PHASE 2.
• If you do not provide two acceptable test donations, we will not be able to accept you as a donor, and we thank you for your time!
• 2 visits

•  Urine sample for STIs
• Sperm sample
• Risk Assessment Interview
• Introduce Identity-Release® Program
• You will receive paperwork to fill out and return at your next visit, including health history forms
• You will receive an email about how to write a Narrative and submit a childhood photo
• You will be instructed to make an appointment for a physical exam with our provider (MD appt)
• Blood test for STIs
• Check payment ($125)
• 1-2 weeks

• Sperm sample
• Return completed paperwork
• Return Narrative and childhood photo by email to the Donor Coordinator
• Meet briefly with Donor Coordinator to review paperwork
• 1 week

• Sperm sample
• Personal interview, known as History Interview
• Photo taken (for internal use only)
• Carrier testing for genetic disorders
• Check payment ($125)
• 1-2 weeks

• Once approved by the Medical Director, contract signing is scheduled
• 1-2 weeks

• Sperm sample
• Meet with and sign TSBC contract with our Executive Director
• Check payment for all usable sperm samples provided ($125 per sample)
• Check payment for childhood photo, if provided ($100)
• Check payment for physical exam (MD appt) ($50)
• 6-8 weeks total