Ep 41 Tips for Choosing a Sperm Donor with Seattle Sperm Bank's Director Angelo Allard

Baby or Bust is back - better than ever.

After a little break, your podcast about all things fertility is back. Same host, Dr. Lora Shahine, same goals to educate and support the fertility community but new format and new production team. We're moving away from seasons and delivering weekly content. We listened to your feedback and will continue interviews but adding episodes with in-depth education from Dr. Shahine on certain topics.

Send us topics you'd like to learn about and interview suggestions to hello@drlorashahine.com

In this episode, we answer the question: How does a sperm bank work with donors to meet the needs of patients?

Host Dr. Lora Shahine interviews Angelo Allard, the General Supervisor at Seattle Sperm Bank (SSB) — one of the largest and most respected sperm banks in the country. For almost 15 years, Angelo has been working with patients to find the right donors and build happy, healthy families.

Angelo explains in-depth every step of the process, from how SSB vets and approves donors, through the regulation and oversight of sperm banks and how SSB supports recipients in choosing their donor, to how much gametes cost, and even how you can return unused vials.

Angelo also answers listeners' questions, so if you still have unanswered questions after the episode, be sure to connect with Dr. Shahine or the Seattle Sperm Bank for answers!

In this episode you'll hear:

[0:00-03:28] Intro

[03:29-4:54] Angelo's role at Seattle Sperm Bank

[04:55-11:54] Can anyone donate? Learn how donors are screened

[11:55-14:27] Are sperm counts really falling around the world? Angelo says "Yes."

[14:28-16:50] Are sperm banks regulated? Learn about lab and sperm bank oversight.

[16:51-26:18 ]How do recipients choose a donor? What do they learn about the donor? Photos?

[26:18-30:02] How do you know what type of sperm preparation to buy? Learn about the different labels and preparation.

[30:03-30:21] How much does donor sperm cost?

[30:22-32:55] How many vials of donor sperm should someone buy?

[32:56-33:22] Can you return donor sperm you don't use?

[33:23-36:17] Can a donor truly be anonymous?

[36:18-39:01] How many children can a donor have from donation?

Questions from Instagram:

[39:02- 40:16] How do you appeal to different races and ethnicities to donate?

[40:17-42:03] Any impact on sperm banks or use of donor sperm after overturn of Roe v Wade?

[42:04-44:02] How do recipients learn about any new health information on donors in the future?

[44:03-48:16] Angelo's memorable and inspirational patient story

[48:17-49:55] Outro

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